New Haven Independent

Attorney Stuart Margolis oversaw the auction Saturday, just one in yet another day of foreclosure sales on porches across a city mired in a foreclosure crisis.

If there was a bargain to be had in this stretch of Fair Haven, someone apparently forgot to tell the bargain-hunters.

The two-family house at 286 Exchange was originally appraised in 2007, at the time of purchase by Michael LaCroix of Hamden, for $233,000. Now unoccupied and vandalized, it was reappraised during the foreclosure proceedings for $170,000.

LaCroix had taken out a mortgage at the time of purchase for $184,000 from the AMC Mortgage Company, based in Rancho Cucamonga, California. There was hardly sufficient equity left in the sad-looking structure to cover the debt. Records show that with interest the debt has ballooned to $200,000.

Attorney Margolis and one prospective bidder, Jeffrey Talavera, of Talavera Real Estate, a management company, were surveying the property and waiting for 11 a.m. to arrive, the moment advertised for the foreclosure sale. A grim-looking man, silent and efficient, drove by in a pick-up and removed a For Sale sign that had been placed there by Century 21 who knows how long ago.

With plunging house prices and so much equity lost, clearly the house, which sits some 25 yards kitty corner from a convenience store, whose beer bottle-littered sidewalks glistened in the early morning light, could not be sold on the open market.

Talavera, who did not want to be photographed, made a quick circumambulation of the property and fairly soon lost interest.

“Look,” he said, “pointing to where an overturned bucket provided entry to vandals, “the kitchen walls have been broken into, down there, the sheet rock opened. I’m sure the copper pipes have been taken.”

Talavera said that he was not surprised given the neighborhood and what he has seen. His company is often called on by banks, he said, to come to properties after they have been foreclosed, to do maintenance or a quick rehab in expectation of sale. “Occasionally, we trash them out,” he said, meaning he’ll remove the often imposing piles of mattresses and trash that have piled up, “and then board them up.”

Attorney Margolis opened the bidding, with an offer of $165,750 on behalf of the plaintiff, Liquidation Properties. All Talavera had to bid was $165,751 to own 286 Exchange, but he declined. His eye was on the more solid looking, if totally boarded up, property right next door.

The record shows that other claims against 286 Exchange that the winning party will likely have to pay are two liens by the Water Pollution Control Authority, for $505 in 2006 and 2007.

Of some interest to foreclosure watchers, Margolis said that the plaintiff is also responsible for the costs related to the sale. He estimated these to be approximately $2,500 to $3,700, depending on how much time the attorney has to put in.

In addition to his fee, Margolis will be submitting to the court for payment by Liquidation Properties the cost of the now removed and forlorn foreclosure sign, $225.

Other costs are for the legal ad in the New Haven Register. (The 286 Exchange ad cost $580 for the ad to appear three times.) Finally, $250 for one day of liability insurance in case an eager potential buyer falls down on the property’s not-so-inviting steps.

Read previous Independent coverage of New Haven’s foreclosure crisis:
• Bank Beats Tanya’s Bid
• Westville Auction Draws A Crowd
• DeStefano: Foreclosure Plan Ready
• Can They Help?
• “We Should Over-Regulate These Bastards”
• Rosa Hears of Rescues
• WPCA Grilled on Foreclosures
• WPCA’s Targets Struggle To Dig Out
• Sue The Subprimers?
• WPCA Hearing Delayed
• Megna’s “Blood Boils” at WPCA Tactics
• Goldfield Wants WPCA Answers
• 2 Days, 8 Foreclosure Suits
• WPCA Goes On Foreclosure Binge
• A Guru Weighs In
• WPCA Targets Church
• Subprime Mess Targeted
• Renters Caught In Foreclosure King’s Fall
• She’s One Of 1,150 In The Foreclosure Mill
• Foreclosures Threaten Perrotti’s Empire
•“I’m Not Going To Lay Down And Let Them Take My House”

The following links are to various materials and brochures designed to help homeowners avoid foreclosure.

How to prepare a complaint to the Department of Banking; Department of Banking Online Assistance Form; Connecticut Department of Banking, Avoiding Foreclosure; FDIC Consumer News; Statewide Legal Services of Connecticut, Inc; Connecticut Bar Association Lawyer Referral Service.

For lawyer referral services in New Haven, call 562-5750 or visit this website. For the Department of Social Services (DSS) Eviction Foreclosure Prevention Program (EFPP), call 211 to see which community-based organization in the state serves your town.

Click here for information on foreclosure prevention efforts from Empower New Haven.