In New York City homeowners can lose their homes to foreclosure if they don’t pay their water bills. Some homeowners delayed paying on their water bills for such a period of time that they owe more than several thousand dollars to the city. The number of homeowners that owe on their bill reaches over several thousand. These homeowners will face foreclosure if the bill continues to go unpaid.

Foreclosures can occur if the homeowner doesn’t pay their monthly mortgage on time or if they don’t pay their taxes, but in New York they can also lose their homes if they don’t pay their water bills. The homeowners are given a chance to set up a payment plan and will need to do so in order to stay out of foreclosure. In order to set up the payment plan the homeowner will need to contact the city’s Department of Finance by the end of April. If this doesn’t occur then the owed money will go to a private lender at the next city lien sale.

Once the owed funds are sold to a private lender the amount can increase by 18 percent in interest fees. The money will need to be paid within the year whether a payment plan is set up or not. Without a payment plan, however, the cost will go up with the interest rate tagged on. The lien sales have decreased the overall debt the city has faced in collecting from delinquent homeowners. This process will create more problems if the city gets stricter on the process and is concerned that the foreclosure rate will go way up.