Correction: This story has been updated with the Greene County Collector's count of properties to be auctioned and the total tax debt tied to them.

Chris Gatley's rental home company owes Greene County hundreds of thousands of dollars, and local officials intend to collect.

Greene County Collector Leah Betts announced Wednesday that more than 100 Springfield-area properties owned by Chris Gatley's 417 Rentals LLC would be auctioned off next month, in order to discharge unpaid property taxes going back to 2016.

The local tax debts detailed Wednesday amount to more than $200,000, according to the collector's office. The sums include penalties, interests and costs.

"If taxes aren't paid, these properties will be listed in the paper on the next two Wednesdays," Collector Betts told the News-Leader by email early Wednesday.

The News-Leader reached out to 417 Rentals by phone early Wednesday, but an automated message stated the voicemail box was full.

In 2016, Gatley's tax debt on the 112 listed properties totaled about $31,000, spiking to more than $80,000 for 2017. That year, more 417 Rentals properties fell behind on their tax liability, according to a News-Leader review of the public notices. In 2018, the sum climbed to $88,000.

The debts on individual properties listed by the collector Wednesday range from less than $100 to more than $2,000.

The properties listed represent only about a fifth of the cheap rental homes in the Springfield area once controlled by Gatley's company. Past News-Leader coverage shows that 417 Rentals had some 500 houses, mostly in working-class neighborhoods, and they collected about $278,000 in monthly rental payments from tenants.

A city attorney told the News-Leader in January that Gatley's company owed at least $82,000 to pay for city actions to enforce code violations on Gatley properties, many of which were in poor condition.

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The property tax debt announced Wednesday is dwarfed by the $19 million Gatley's company owes 13 banks, according to court records — the subject of business and personal bankruptcy cases dismissed by federal judges earlier this year.

A few days after the business bankruptcy was dismissed in January, Gatley was subject to a serious gunshot wound, from which he is recovering.

Beginning in March, banks began foreclosing on Gatley properties.

The city of Springfield has fielded more than 1,500 complaints about Gatley properties since 2014, and in court filings, it branded Gatley a "public menace."

Records show that since 2014, more than a dozen of Gatley's tenants were evicted while or after complaining about conditions at the properties where they lived. Since August of that year, 417 Rentals has sought to evict or forcibly collect monies from tenants with more than 1,200 Greene County Circuit Court actions.

A News-Leader investigation published in April showed that 417 Rentals' negligence, limited inspection power on the part of public authorities and a lack of housing options for people with felonies, poor credit, low incomes or other barriers contributed to the problem.

The collector's office said the sale of Gatley properties would take place at 10 a.m. Aug. 26 in Room 212 of the Greene County Courthouse. Bidders may register beginning at 8 a.m. that day by visiting courthouse Room 105.