A bill aimed at putting guardrails on when towns can sell off people’s property to recoup back taxes is nearing the governor’s desk; meanwhile, Vermont Legal Aid has requested tax sale documents from every town in the state.

H.629, “an act relating to changes to property tax abatement and tax sales,” was introduced in January by Rep. Emilie Kornheiser, D-Brattleboro, and Rep. Michael McCarthy, D-St. Albans.

“In the vast majority of towns, tax sale is the absolute last resort,” said McCarthy on Monday. “But there were definitely some outliers that were going to tax sale for very small amounts of delinquencies.”

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