About the St. Louis Real Estate Tax Assistance Fund
***The Real Estate Tax Assistance Program is a seasonal program that is activated once the Collector of Revenue’s Office begins the land tax sale process, which runs from May through August.***
THE REAL ESTATE TAX ASSISTANCE FUND COMBATS THE DISPLACEMENT OF ST. LOUIS HOMEOWNERS WHO ARE UNABLE TO PAY THEIR REAL ESTATE TAX BILLS.
A small increase in property taxes, household emergency, or unanticipated medical bill should not put a family at risk of losing their home to tax foreclosure. Unfortunately, for many homeowners in our community on low and fixed incomes, this is a familiar story: a few hundred dollars in delinquent real estate taxes accumulates fines, fees, and interest, turns into a foreclosure judgment, and a family home goes to the auction block. That’s where the Real Estate Tax Assistance Fund (RETAF) comes in. Providing up to $3,500 in tax assistance to owner-occupants facing tax foreclosure, RETAF intervenes at the most precarious moment for homeowners in our city’s real estate tax foreclosure system, helping families remain stably housed and hold onto their hard-earned equity.
In partnership with RETAF, the City of St. Louis has committed $500,000 in ARPA funds to preventing tax sales of owner-occupied homes. Thanks to its generous community partner St. Louis Community Credit Union and other local donors, RETAF has already raised 14% of its private funding goal to begin helping homeowners in 2022. RETAF also received a $3,000 contribution as a runner up from the Federal Home Loan Bank of Des Moines.
If you think you may be eligible for assistance, please apply here. RETAF will begin processing your application for assistance thirty days before your home’s scheduled tax sale date.
This season, please give what you can to prevent tax foreclosures from displacing our neighbors.
CITY HELPS MORE THAN A DOZEN HOMEOWNERS GET CAUGHT UP ON REAL ESTATE TAXES, AVOID TUESDAY’S LAND TAX SALE.
Caroline Hecker, kmov.org
