New Haven Independent

85 Porter St. was appraised at $120,500, but went for only $78,068.31 to the plaintiff, HSBC, in line with a bid faxed in by the bank ahead of the auction. The court ruled in March that the defendant, Abaker Mahamat, owed HSBC a debt of $96,309.09, with taxes current but water payments behind.

Attorney Frederick P. Leaf, the court-appointed “committee” running the sale, was surprised that the bank bid almost $20,000 below its interest in the mortgage foreclosure, something he said he almost never sees on his foreclosure rounds.

Also surprising to Leaf was the lack of interest in an attractive house on a quiet residential street. “It’s a nice neighborhood,” he said. “If someone wanted to come in and bid $79,000, they could own this house.”

Lisandra Rodriguez (pictured, with Cutberto Rodriguez), who lives next door at 83 Porter, said that when the couple who used to live in the foreclosed property moved several years ago, the owner’s sister tried to rent the place out. When the sister moved away as well, an ex-boyfriend of hers started sneaking in, and bringing his friends.

“There were a lot of people over there; they were always in and out. There were weird activities going on, and the place was a mess,” Rodriguez said. Finally, she called Leaf, a patient at the doctor’s office where she is a nurse, because she knew he handled foreclosures. “I don’t know why I didn’t call him sooner,” she said.

Another neighbor, Mona Cherry, arrived home from grocery shopping after the sale was over and the lawyers had sped away. She said she originally considered bidding on 85 Porter as a place to rent out, but had decided against it.

“I love this neighborhood. It’s very family-oriented around here,” Cherry said, as her son helped her unpack groceries and her neighbor’s kids drew with chalk on the sidewalk. “It’s quiet, very quiet.” She doesn’t miss the annoyance of loud music at night, gone since the legal proceedings got underway. Now the house across the street is quiet, too.

Previous Independent coverage of New Haven’s foreclosure crisis:

• 3 Minutes Too Late
• 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.