 |
 
|
|
|
|
|
Mooring Tax Asset Group (MTAG), an affiliate of Mooring Financial Corporation, is one of the largest tax lien investors and servicers in the U.S. MTAG has acquired, managed and serviced more than $1 billion of tax liens since inception in 1997. The firm was recently named servicer for the 2008 New York City Tax Lien 2008 Trust. MTAG manages the acquisition and servicing of portfolios in 23 states, covering more than 300 municipalities. |
MTAG has over ten years of experience servicing tax liens. In 1997 MTAG began servicing liens for various Mooring Financial Corporation related entities. In 2000, it began servicing tax liens for a local bank and in 2003 serviced tax liens totaling $600 million for a large investment fund. It currently services its own tax lien portfolio, portfolios for two funds (Mooring Secured Liquidity Fund and Mooring Tax Lien Fund I) and the City of New York.
In 2008, MTAG was selected by the City of New York to service a $20 million portfolio in delinquent property tax liens for the NYCTL 2008-A Trust. As co-servicer for the transaction, MTAG services liens on properties located across all five boroughs of the City. New York City is a leader in the active management of its delinquent tax lien portfolio having conducted tax lien sales since 1996. New York City sells its delinquent liens to a Trust and the servicer is responsible for collecting the delinquent taxes. This initiative allows the properties to return to the City's active tax rolls and has helped New York City avoid imposing higher tax increases on residents who pay their taxes on time.
Tax liens are serviced by the following groups in MTAG:
- The Servicing Group is responsible for processing and tracking redemptions, posting payments and logging and storing all correspondence and collateral in-house. This group is able to generate hundreds of reports such as cash flow reports, waterfall reports and portfolio summary reports.
- The Foreclosure Group is responsible for foreclosure and bankruptcy case tracking, legal monitoring and communications with debtor, outside counsel and county officials.
- The Asset Management Group is responsible for directing and monitoring the operation of all REO assets. This includes:
- Asset preservation - securing and cleaning the asset to avoid physical depreciation
- Risk analysis - analyzing the market and economic trends to support property valuation
- Workouts and loss mitigation - strategies to decrease losses and reduce recovery time
- REO disposition - managing third party contractors, implementing marketing and strategic plans, sales negotiations, and final closing analysis
|
MTAG is able to work with municipalities to advise on the sale of their delinquent taxes. The following are some investor considerations for the sale of tax liens:
- Monetary value of the tax lien
- Redemption history of the state and county
- Geographic location of the property
- Quality of the underlying property
- State statutes governing tax liens
|
MTAG has developed processes and systems for the evaluation of tax liens and properties. MTAG conducts site inspections on properties and supplements that with additional data on the property obtained from the county and other sources. Using a standardized scorecard developed over time, MTAG conducts a visual evaluation of the underlying property to determine the physical condition of the home or building and a general analysis of the neighborhood.
|
MTAG tracks tax liens in its proprietary tax lien system, LienTax by Mooring®. MTAG can provide end-to-end portfolio acquisition and servicing, including foreclosure management. A summary of the tax lien investment and servicing process is outlined below:
|
MTAG's tax lien investment approach focuses on:
- Acquisition of high quality assets through superior due diligence, financial analysis and proprietary systems and procedures.
- Servicing efficiently through state-of-the-art systems and technology, and superior portfolio analysis.
- Special Servicing of mature liens by applying specific knowledge and understanding of every state tax lien statute, and by developing relationships and processes with attorneys, brokers, contractors and title companies
|
|
MTAG developed its own SQL server based proprietary system, LienTax by Mooring®, to efficiently manage and track tax lien portfolios for third party clients and its own portfolio. LienTax by Mooring® tracks tax liens from the due diligence phase through the final resolution of each tax lien. It also efficiently handles the financial and legal nuances for liens in more than 300 municipalities. This system is very scalable and already manages detailed information and payment processing for more than 250,000 tax liens in client and MTAG portfolios.
LienTax by Mooring® is able to generate various reports such as portfolio summary reports, detailed portfolio reports, purchase reports, detailed and summary redemption reports, and portfolio reconciliation reports. The system also provides flexibility to generate custom reports to meet client needs.
MTAG technology also allows its clients to remotely access portfolio information on a real time basis.
|
|
Many states, counties and other municipalities sell tax liens to the public when property taxes are delinquent. Investors acquire property tax liens primarily to earn statutory interest on the investment. The proceeds from tax lien sales are used in the funding of municipal services such as schools, police, etc. Each state has statutes governing the sale of tax liens, the interest rate earned on liens and the process available to investors for enforcing the liens. These statutes vary greatly from state to state. |
|
For more information on the tax lien industry visit the National Tax Lien Association website. MTAG is a member of the National Tax Lien Association (NTLA). The NTLA is the only nationwide association representing all segments of the tax lien industry. James Meeks, President of MTAG, is currently a member of the NTLA Board of Directors and has served as its President and Secretary previously. |
|
 |
| |
|
