REWRITTEN AND UPDATED 3-30-14...Did you know that when we left Hopatcong in June 2013 Hopatcong had just over 500 foreclosures and most of them tax liens at the time? That was almost 10% of the total 5,653 residential properties.
This is the updated list as it stands now. Out of the 4,784 homes in Sussex county that are in foreclosure (distressed, tax lien, bankruptcy) 675 now are located in Hopatcong. That number grew by 175 in 7 MONTHS. Now it's about 12% of the total 5,653 residential properties.
Here's the list by address:
http://www.foreclosure.com/search.html?loc=Sussex%20County,%20NJ&cno=037&pg=46&o=ci&ob=asc&zm=1&view...
http://www.foreclosure.com/search.html?loc=Sussex%20County,%20NJ&cno=037&pg=47&o=ci&ob=asc&zm=1&view...
http://www.foreclosure.com/search.html?loc=Sussex%20County,%20NJ&cno=037&pg=48&o=ci&ob=asc&zm=1&view...
http://www.foreclosure.com/search.html?loc=Sussex%20County,%20NJ&cno=037&pg=49&o=ci&ob=asc&zm=1&view...
http://www.foreclosure.com/search.html?loc=Sussex%20County,%20NJ&cno=037&pg=50&o=ci&ob=asc&zm=1&view...
http://www.foreclosure.com/search.html?loc=Sussex%20County,%20NJ&cno=037&pg=51&o=ci&ob=asc&zm=1&view...
http://www.foreclosure.com/search.html?loc=Sussex%20County,%20NJ&cno=037&pg=52&o=ci&ob=asc&zm=1&view...
http://www.foreclosure.com/search.html?loc=Sussex%20County,%20NJ&cno=037&pg=53&o=ci&ob=asc&zm=1&view...
http://www.foreclosure.com/search.html?loc=Sussex%20County,%20NJ&cno=037&pg=54&o=ci&ob=asc&zm=1&view...
http://www.foreclosure.com/search.html?loc=Sussex%20County,%20NJ&cno=037&pg=55&o=ci&ob=asc&zm=1&view...
http://www.foreclosure.com/search.html?loc=Sussex%20County,%20NJ&cno=037&pg=56&o=ci&ob=asc&zm=1&view...
http://www.foreclosure.com/search.html?loc=Sussex%20County,%20NJ&cno=037&pg=57&o=ci&ob=asc&zm=1&view...
http://www.foreclosure.com/search.html?loc=Sussex%20County,%20NJ&cno=037&pg=58&o=ci&ob=asc&zm=1&view...
http://www.foreclosure.com/search.html?loc=Sussex%20County,%20NJ&cno=037&pg=59&o=ci&ob=asc&zm=1&view...
http://www.foreclosure.com/search.html?loc=Sussex%20County,%20NJ&cno=037&pg=60&o=ci&ob=asc&zm=1&view...
http://www.foreclosure.com/search.html?loc=Sussex%20County,%20NJ&cno=037&pg=61&o=ci&ob=asc&zm=1&view...
http://www.foreclosure.com/search.html?loc=Sussex%20County,%20NJ&cno=037&pg=62&o=ci&ob=asc&zm=1&view...
http://www.foreclosure.com/search.html?loc=Sussex%20County,%20NJ&cno=037&pg=63&o=ci&ob=asc&zm=1&view...
http://www.foreclosure.com/search.html?loc=Sussex%20County,%20NJ&cno=037&pg=64&o=ci&ob=asc&zm=1&view...
http://www.foreclosure.com/search.html?loc=Sussex%20County,%20NJ&cno=037&pg=65&o=ci&ob=asc&zm=1&view...
http://www.foreclosure.com/search.html?loc=Sussex%20County,%20NJ&cno=037&pg=66&o=ci&ob=asc&zm=1&view...
http://www.foreclosure.com/search.html?loc=Sussex%20County,%20NJ&cno=037&pg=67&o=ci&ob=asc&zm=1&view...
http://www.foreclosure.com/search.html?loc=Sussex%20County,%20NJ&cno=037&pg=68&o=ci&ob=asc&zm=1&view...
http://www.foreclosure.com/search.html?loc=Sussex%20County,%20NJ&cno=037&pg=69&o=ci&ob=asc&zm=1&view...
http://www.foreclosure.com/search.html?loc=Sussex%20County,%20NJ&cno=037&pg=70&o=ci&ob=asc&zm=1&view...
http://www.foreclosure.com/search.html?loc=Sussex%20County,%20NJ&cno=037&pg=71&o=ci&ob=asc&zm=1&view...
http://www.foreclosure.com/search.html?loc=Sussex%20County,%20NJ&cno=037&pg=72&o=ci&ob=asc&zm=1&view...
Reality check.... this should be a headline story to any other article related to Hopatcong government. If you can't afford to live in Hopatcong because of high taxes or you had to move because you keep losing property value or you can't appeal your taxes now because your reassessment was set too low then what good is the lake if Hopatcong becomes a ghost town? We lived on the lake. We sold our house and moved in June 2013. Took over a $30K loss from what we bought it for in 2003, we paid a realtor's commission as well plus abandoned an in ground oil tank. That's $55K total.
Why are residents mad? The Mayor decided to do a reassessment because of the drop in property values... http://hopatcong-sparta.patch.com/groups/politics-and-elections/p/hopatcong-residents-officials-lock... "The new higher taxes are the result of a reassessment done over the past year that dropped the total value of the borough by 30 percent, which lowered the values of the majority of homes and forced up the tax rate". So, in August 2013 Hopatcong residents felt the effects of the new adjusted rate hike.... http://hopatcong-sparta.patch.com/groups/politics-and-elections/p/hopatcong-reassessment-plans-take-... "Records show that Hopatcong's total assessed property value fell from $2.037 billion in 2011 to $1.996 billion in 2012". But in reality here's where Hopatcong property values have gone in the past 10 years...
http://www.zillow.com/hopatcong-nj/home-values/ "taxes have gone up 5-6%/year while values have gone down 5-6%/year".
So what I said in July of 2013 was that "if this new tax rate threw more homes into foreclosure then this borough mayor has caused greater damage than the previous one that introduced sewers to this borough". I went on further to say "let this July report be our marker which is 500 or about 10% of the homes in Hopatcong are in foreclosure because back in September of 2012 there were only 211, which was LESS than 5% of the residential home market". I went on further to say "if the foreclosure listings increase in September 2013 with the new August tax rate adjustment, you will know the reassessment was a failure that added an additional expense to the budget deficit". The reassessment supposedly cost $300,000.
Here's what happened right before the last election in 2012......
May of 2012 http://hopatcong-sparta.patch.com/groups/politics-and-elections/p/hopatcong-to-focus-on-economic-dev... "Hopatcong Mayor Sylvia Petillo said Saturday she's planning organizing an economic development and revitalization committee to help grow business in the borough. The committee would be comprised of council members and residents, Petillo said. Councilmen Howard Baker and Michael Francis are expected to be on the committee, she said". The key word here was "PLANNING".
Shortly after that she got caught with her hand in the cookie jar using taxpayer $ illegally in July 2012 http://hopatcong-sparta.patch.com/groups/politics-and-elections/p/hopatcong-mayor-violated-ethics-la... "DCA said Sylvia Petillo broke a state local government ethics law when she used borough money to fund a mailing to residents advocating a referendum. The second-term mayor said she planning to fight the decision". Again the key word is "PLANNING".
What happened after she appealed the decision? http://hopatcong-sparta.patch.com/groups/opinion/p/mayor-petillo-2011-referendumignorance-of-the-law... "the DCA held up that decision in September of 2013". So much for that PLAN.
A LOT OF "PLANNING" IN HOPATCONG. NOTHING GETS DONE AT LEAST IN THE SHORT TERM BECAUSE I BELIEVE IN THE LONG TERM...SHE HAS A PLAN.
Personally I believe there's a reason for this continual drop in property value" because there's a long term "PLAN" to acquire all this property at rock bottom prices in land trust deals through tax liens that will benefit the rich elite thus the reason for combining both the planning and zoning board into ONE controlled by the Mayor and Council.... http://hopatcong-sparta.patch.com/groups/politics-and-elections/p/hopatcong-considering-merging-land...
With time we'll find out if combining the boards was "to cut costs, be of benefit to the taxpayer and a benefit to the applicant," as Petillo said, who also added the move "cut down on legal fees and time residents spent shuffling between the boards" as stated by the Mayor in the DCA violation link above.
In closing, the "many, many houses on the market" should be your first clue of what's happening in Hopatcong. I for one opposed the reassessment....http://hopatcong-sparta.patch.com/groups/politics-and-elections/p/reassessment-approved-despite-resi... Why? All they did was devalue the properties and raised the multiplier http://hopatcong-sparta.patch.com/groups/politics-and-elections/p/581m-drop-for-2013-hopatcong-prope... so now that the new tax rate is in effect..... all of Hopatcong did see a rise in the foreclosures shortly after that because more residential property owners walked away from their underwater homes because they can't afford the property taxes.... http://hopatcong-sparta.patch.com/groups/politics-and-elections/p/residents-question-hopatcong-counc... But don't complain to Mayor Petillo about how unhappy you are or others are with the situation. All she'll do is send investigators to your home to intimidate you (see 6 attachments). We moved that summer.
