New Haven Independent

Three minutes proved too late.

Lesson #2: Always bring a certified check.

The foreclosure took place on sunny Saturday morning at 68 Stevenson Rd., in the hills of Westville. Attendees included individuals trying to capitalize on the foreclosure: a real estate agent looking for homebuyers and an aspiring investor, looking for a house to flip.

No bidders had arrived by the 11 a.m. auction deadline, so the property went back to the bank. The house, which has been appraised at $285,000, could have been purchased at the auction for $195,000. Prior to the auction, the owners were trying to sell the house through an agent who was reportedly asking over $300,000.

The blinds were drawn on the white house, which is owner-occupied. Attorney Jerome Pagter, overseeing the auction, said that the owners were home but did not want people coming into the house. A golden retriever stood in a bay window, barking at the people gathered on the lawn.

At 10:40 a.m., local real estate agent Marcial Cuevas, who lives down the street, was already on the scene, chatting with Pagter. Cuevas said that he makes a habit of attending foreclosure auctions that are held nearby, as a way of meeting prospective homebuyers. Cuevas said that so far he’s found one serious client this way, whom he was able to help buy a home.

It was Cuevas who called the Stevenson Road area to be the “nicest neighborhood in the city of New Haven.” He said that in his 12 years living there, this was the first foreclosure he’s seen. “It’s a very stable neighborhood,” Cuevas said.

Just before 11 a.m., a couple pulled up in a red car. They declined to give their names, but said that they own an empty lot on Stevenson Road. They weren’t prepared to bid, just interested in the foreclosure process. They received Cuevas’ business card.

At 11 a.m. Pagter declared that in the absence of bidders, the house had gone back to the bank.

At 11:03 a.m. a woman pulled up and ran over breathlessly followed by her husband. She was dismayed to learn that she had missed the auction.

“It’s over,” said Pagter.

“The bank will sell it now?” asked the flustered woman (who declined to give her name), trying to figure out how she could still buy the house.

“You gotta show up before 11,” said Pagter.

It turned out that the woman had not brought a certified check and would not have been able to bid anyway. She received a lesson on foreclosures from Cuevas. She also received his business card.

Dunkin’ Donuts: Bad Idea

The small crowd had dispersed when two more cars pulled up. Three men, two women, and two boys got out. They were dressed in shorts and flip-flops and sipped on Dunking Donuts beverages.

Informed that they had missed the auction, one man turned to another and said, “I told you Dunkin Donuts wasn’t a good idea.”

One of the men, in a shorts and a light blue shirt, said that he was from Guilford and was “gathering information” about buying properties in foreclosure auction. Accompanying the potential buyer were several friends and a real estate agent, Michael Camarota. The rest of the group declined to give their names.

The potential buyer said that he was undeterred by missing the auction. (He hadn’t brought a certified check either.) He said that he would be keeping his eye on the property, looking for further opportunities to buy it. “This is gonna go on a hot sheet,” he said.

He was confident that the bank would sell it for a low price. “They’re not in the business of real estate,” he said.

He said that he sees current housing conditions as an opportunity. “If a house is in a good market it sells,” he said. Asked if he was looking to buy a house to flip it, he said “yeah.”

The group got back in their cars and drove off to play T-ball.

No one answered the doorbell at 68 Stevenson.

Previous Independent coverage of New Haven’s foreclosure crisis:

• Historic Gambardella Property Foreclosed
•2 Homes Lost, 1 Gained
• “Everybody’s Got To Eat”
• More Foreclosures, More Signs
• Foreclosure Sale Benefits Archie Moore’s
• Rescue Squad Swings Into Action
• A Bidder Shows Up
• 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”
• Struggling Couple Sues Over “Scam”

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.