BERRIEN COUNTY TREASURER OFFICE HELP’S 545 PROPERTY OWNERS AVOID PROPERTY TAX FORECLOSURE

BCR Correspondent
R.Hendrixson

Our Berrien County Treasure office lead by Bret Witkowski helped almost 600 property owners keep their property this year.  In 2018 over 400 property owners avoided foreclosure by setting up monthly payment plans with the county’s treasurer office.

This number increased to 545 in 2019.  A statement from the treasurer’s office noted:  “(By) updating payment plans,  545 property owners avoided foreclosure. We did foreclose on 252 properties – which is up from last year, but that is because we foreclosed on 45 units at the old Hotel on Riverview Drive in Benton Harbor (that was broken in to 90 condo units). There was also one land owner in City of Benton Harbor that let 20 lots get foreclosed on.”

The graphic below (provided by the Berrien County Treasurer office) shows revenue that the county will or have received in payments that were setup with property owners all over our county.  In a phone interview back in 2016 with Mr. Witkowski he noted “the county is NOT in the business of owning property, we work with the property owners at all cost to avoid tax foreclosure”.  The county treasurer office continues to demonstrate that culture annually by ensuring every avenue possible is used to avoid tax foreclosure.
The Berrien County Record works hand-in-hand with all county offices (including the treasurer’s office) throughout the year to help inform county residents of opportunities to avoid tax and bank foreclosures.  However, in the case of a foreclosure the Berrien County Record’s goal is to provide the absolute most transparent information as it relates to public notices.  The Berrien County Treasurer office will make the list of available tax foreclosure properties that will go to sale/auction in mid-June.  Please stay tuned for updates on that list as it becomes available.