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WILKES-BARRE — Former mayoral candidate Frank Sorick said he’s declared bankruptcy in preparation of moving out of the city and state.

Sorick and his wife Katrina listed assets of $277,896 and liabilities of $468,108 in their voluntary Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing Tuesday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

The couple have a house on Waller Street and rental properties that they have been trying to sell, said Sorick, a self-employed realtor. It’s been difficult to attract buyers and pay the taxes due to declining property values that he attributed to crime and decay, he said. Sorick ran as a Republican against Democrat Tony George, the eventual winner of last November’s mayor’s race who campaigned on restoring law and order in the city.

“This is the only way of getting out of the city,” Sorick said.

He and his wife could have walked away from their properties and let them go into foreclosure, he said. Instead, they chose to work with the bank and have it take the properties, he said. “I’m not willing to stay here in a city that people are not safe in,” Sorick said.

In addition to their Waller Street home, the couple has rental properties on Sullivan and North River streets in Wilkes-Barre, and on Elm and Second streets in Plymouth. All of the properties are in arrears for the years 2013 through 2015 for a total of $18,600, according to Luzerne County Tax Claim Bureau records.

Sorick said he stepped down as president of the Wilkes-Barre City Taxpayers Association and plans to move out of state.

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By Jerry Lynott

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Reach Jerry Lynott at 570-991-6120 or on Twitter @TLJerryLynott