FLATIRON DISTRICT, Manhattan (WABC) — As a college math professor, Steve Warner knows a thing or two about crunching numbers.
After he purchased his apartment in 2022, however, Warner met a problem he couldn’t solve.
A teacher who also tickles the ivories as a musician, it was Warner’s book that helped him buy an apartment in the Flatiron District three years ago. But the apartment came with a price: a tax.
“When you buy a property in New York City, if it’s over a million dollars, you have to pay an additional tax called a mansion tax, and the buyer pays that tax,” Warner said. “So for me, that was $13,000.”
Paid on his bill in black and white, Warner and his cat enjoyed their apartment for two years until he got a notice.
“I received an audit from New York State saying they never received the mansion tax. The title company was basically saying everything’s correct, and the state rep is saying, no, it’s not. You paid the city, but you never paid the state,” Warner said.
“A simple error was made on a document at the closing. We all know, everyone involved agrees that this mistake was made. Everyone agrees that the city got an extra $13,000 that they were not supposed to. Why is it so hard to just send it over to the state?”
If that wasn’t enough of a problem, Professor Warner only had one year to submit a claim for the money.
“Since I didn’t find out until two and a half years later, they said the New York City Law says I don’t get to get that money back, and New York City is allowed to keep it,” Warner said.
The window ended up closing, and Warner’s title company couldn’t help. He ran out of time with the city, and the numbers expert was compounding interest.
7 On Your Side contacted the city’s Department of Finance, pointing out the numbers weren’t adding up. Within a week, the $13,000 in this elusive equation carried over, and the entire sum was sent to the state.
“Nobody was able to help me, so I really appreciate that you guys were able to come through and get this straightened out for me, thank you,” Warner said.
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