Cuyahoga County Treasurer Jim Rokakis says he's seeing a growing number of people either abandoning or being put out of their homes because they don't have money to pay property taxes.
To slow the increase, Rokakis' office is initiating a six-month foreclosures stop on single-family, owner-occupied structures whose owners' tax bills are past due.
JIM ROKAKIS: "We're now past the stage where it's just the sub-prime folks who are in trouble. We're seeing a lot of prime rate borrowers struggle and we're seeing a lot of people who've paid their property taxes struggle."
It is NOT amnesty - taxes are still owed, and penalties and interest will continue to accrue. But it's hoped that that keeping people in their homes longer will give them time to get back on their feet, and stop the slide in neighborhoods property values that occurs when homes are empty.
An effort to take the moratorium statewide has been launched by Cleveland's State Representative, Mike Foley.
REP MIKE FOLEY(D) CLEVELAND: "It's to give people breathing room to get back on their feet, make payments, get back in the good sted of the treasurer and their lenders."
More than 13,000 foreclosure cases were filed in Cuyahoga County this year.
LAST year, foreclosed properties in Cuyahoga County sold for an average 27 percent of appraised value; and even lower in some parts of Cleveland.
Rick Jackson, 90.3.
