Tulsa City Council Establishes Program To Help Homeowners Keep Their Houses

The Tulsa City Council has created a program to help homeowners stay in houses they’re otherwise about to lose over delinquent property taxes.

City Councilors Vanessa Hall-Harper, Jeannie Cue and Crista Patrick created “Save Our Houses Initiative” to dispense American Rescue Plan funding into low-income neighborhoods.

The goal is to not just keep people in a house, according to Hall-Harper, “to establish and build their wealth not just for themselves but for generations to come.”

The Tulsa Economic Development Corporation administers the new program, for people with two or three years of past due property taxes, which is the point when the County can sell the property for back taxes.

“So we know who the people are,” said Rose Washington-Jones, the head of TEDC, “but we don't know who will pay last minute to keep property off the tax sale. Even those people will have two years of delinquent taxes and can still qualify for the program and get those taxes paid.”

The program can pay up to $4,000 per household towards delinquent tax bills, or to get legal help to gain clear title to the property.

It's available only for lower-income homeowners, in lower-income areas.

Councilor Vanessa Hall-Harper said in her district sometimes people can't improve their property without a clear title.

“If you can't afford to pay your taxes, you can't afford an attorney to probate your property, so we want to help as many people as we can before it gets to the place where the county comes in to take their property,” she said.

For more information, CLICK HERE and for the application click HERE.