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For the third time, Sugarloaf Township resident Robert Nemeth escaped the auctioning of his tax-delinquent home by filing for bankruptcy.Nemeth owes $63,234 in real estate taxes dating back a decade on his house, which had been listed in Thursday&#8217;s special sale for property owners who defaulted on repayment plans.Auctioneer John Rodgers announced Nemeth&#8217;s bankruptcy during the sale at the courthouse, telling the audience he will hold a special tax auction exclusively for Nemeth&#8217;s property as soon as the bankruptcy judge grants permission.Rodgers&#8217; company, Northeast Revenue Service, LLC, oversees county tax claim and is expected to challenge Nemeth&#8217;s bankruptcy as a &#8220;bad faith&#8221; filing, alleging he has repeatedly misused the protection to prevent the county from auctioning the property.Nemeth&#8217;s latest bankruptcy was filed shortly before 7 p.m. Wednesday.&#8220;I&#8217;ve had enough of it. This is ridiculous,&#8221; Rodgers said after the sale in reference to Nemeth&#8217;s continued removal from sales.Properties are supposed to be auctioned if taxes have gone unpaid for two years unless the owner is on a repayment plan, involved in an active bankruptcy proceeding or obtains a court order.The tax claim office has been forced to remove Nemeth&#8217;s property from several auctions since Northeast Revenue started running the office in 2010.Repayment agreementAccording to Northeast Revenue and public records, Nemeth obtained a repayment agreement to get out of a sale in 2010, but the agreement was soon canceled because he stopped paying after the initial installment.Northeast Revenue&#8217;s attempt to auction the property the following April was blocked when Nemeth filed for bankruptcy a month before the sale.That bankruptcy was dismissed, but Nemeth filed for bankruptcy again in September 2011 to prevent Northeast Revenue from auctioning the property that month.Northeast Revenue later obtained permission from a bankruptcy judge to lift the auction ban, but Nemeth convinced a county judge to remove the property from a November 2013 auction, saying he was selling another property to pay the outstanding taxes.Nemeth made a $45,000 down-payment that was applied toward taxes he owed on the home and another property in West Hazleton, but he has paid nothing since.Nemeth owes $7,466 in taxes dating back to 2011 on the West Hazleton commercial structure, which is categorized as &#8220;unsound&#8221; in county property records. This property also was removed from Thursday&#8217;s sale due to the bankruptcy filing.Nemeth recently said he was aware of the debt and was pursuing options.Other casesTwo other county residents filed bankruptcies to prevent the sale of property &#8212; Charles Decker, who owns seven tax-delinquent properties in Wilkes-Barre, and John Davis, who is involved with five properties owned by Leonard Whitelonis in Harvey&#8217;s Lake and Edwardsville.Northeast Revenue started out with a list of around 130 properties, but most paid their debt. Three property owners unsuccessfully sought court orders to delay sale of their property.Thursday&#8217;s first-stage sale is less popular because bidders had to pay all back taxes owed and accept responsible for liens attached to the properties.Three properties sold, and the remaining 30 will advance to a free-and-clear auction later this year.The successful bidders snatched up houses Thursday by paying the following back taxes:&#8226; $10,585 for a house on Meyers Street, Forty Fort, assessed at $59,800&#8226; $13,158 for a house on Chestnut Street, Larksville, assessed at $111,900&#8226; $7,600 for a house on Market Street, Pittston Township, assessed at $55,000

Man files third bankruptcy to get out of Luzerne County back-tax auction