New Haven Independent

Jones (pictured with the court’s attorney, Donna Wright), outbid the City of New Haven by $5,000 at a foreclosure sale Saturday near the corner of Colony and Dyer. By offering a mere $25,000 at a foreclosure sale he became the owner of 123 Colony — a house worth as much as 15 times the amount he bid.

If the court approves the sale. It’s unclear whether that’ll happen.

The 75 year-old solid Tudor house is in a middle-class neighborhood adjacent to a pre-fab. Jones didn’t know that the land once included a beloved copper beech tree. A developer named Daniel Stein tore it down in order to build more housing on the block — an act that sparked a neighborhood revolt. Stein also built a new prefab house that remains unlived in next door.

(Click here and here for stories about the Beech tree controversy from 2006.)

Would Jones, who seemed not to be aware of the tumultuous Stein v. Beaver Hill chronicle, be allowed to keep 123 Colony, which was recently appraised for $384,000, for such a low price?

Jones thinks he will. Another potential buyer, Michael Bagley, was skeptical. He arrived late and, despite being armed with a certified check, was not admitted to the house to check it out or allowed to bid.

Bagley (in the orange shirt) was referring to a mortgage of $464,000, which the current owners, Tom and Shirley Bordeau, took out with the Kansas City-based Novastar Company in 2006, when they bought the house from … whom? Yes, from Daniel Stein.

Among the many neighbors who gathered after the sale — none of whom wanted to be quoted by name — there was more than curiosity about what had happened. One woman suggested that the Bordeaus, on whom the foreclosure was being exacted, likely had not been aware that Daniel Stein, when he sold them 123, was going to build on the nearby adjacent land.

“They thought they had a yard,” an unidentified neighbor said, “and then one day the tree came down. When I told the Bordeaus that a house was also going up on the lot, well, within three days they were moving out.”

How exactly Stein’s neighbor-flaunting tree and pre-fab adventures contributed to the Bordeau’s not paying their taxes was not clear.

A phone call attempt to reach Stein through John Lambert, the North-Haven based lawyer, who had represented him in previous dealings with the city, was not returned.

The city had brought foreclosure on 123 Colony to recoup its unpaid 2006 taxes, which had grown, with expenses to in excess of $15,000.

For his part Jones simply wanted an investment opportunity; and, surprisingly, the mortgage company appeared to be providing it. The current owners of the house, Tom and Shirley Bordeau, were beholden to Novastar for a $464,000 mortgage note to enable their purchase of the house from Stein at $490,000. No representative of Novastar was present at the foreclosure sale on the humid Saturday morning.

There lay the rub. “As I understand the law,” Bagley said, “if the sale is not for at least 60 percent of the debt, the court will probably disallow it and call for another sale.”

Wayne Jones said he has bid on several other places. This is his first success. He said understands it differently. “When the city forecloses for its taxes,” he said, “the way I understand it is that that supercedes any bank, and the bank’s claim falls by the wayside.”

Attorney Wright, who conducted the sale for the court, shook hands, and confirmed that the court indeed has to approve the sale. “They might and they might not,” she said.

The court has 30 days to approve the sale. Bagley said he wasn’t sure if automatically a law kicks in to disapprove if the sale price was too low, or if the mortgage company had to bring a motion to that effect.

Attorney Wright said that she had done some additional research, not revealed in the official court records, that showed Novastar might have assigned the 123 Colony mortgage to yet another entity called Saxon. She wouldn’t reveal more beyond that.

Be that as it may, however, Michael Bagley said he felt fairly certain that this was not the last chapter. “The seller,” he told a crowd of neighbors, curious about the continuing saga of the property of Daniel Stein, “also has 20 days to redeem their property.”

A call to Tom Boudreau was placed for comment but not returned.

As Attorney Wright and Jones did their paperwork the small crowd of neighbors grew. They recounted the troubles of 123, the adjacent house, and the much-loved copper beech, revealing this unofficial history of the property:

Longtime owners of the house on the other side of 123 said that the Ginsberg family had lived in 123 for 30 years; none of the children wanted to keep the house. Daniel Stein bought it from the Ginsbergs in 2005 for $449,000. Unable to sell the house and the land running to Dyer for the price he wanted, he sold the house the following year, 2006, to the Boudreaus for $490,000, which they financed with their $464,000 mortgage. Then Stein subdivided, creating a new building lot.

In order to build on the newly created lot, that is, to provide a front yard, he took down the copper beech. That ourtraged neighbors who for generations had enjoyed the grace and shade of the rare and imposing corner tree. A fight ensued. Deprived of a yard, the Boudreaus left, and their financial woes with 123 apparently began. Stein, who had a reputation for multiple ownerships in New Haven, withdrew variance requests before the Board of Zoning Appeals, and simply threw up the pre-fab.

Today that pre-fab is in trouble, and there remain — at least in the minds of neighbors — questions of code compliance. The front porch is unfinished or coming down. The back porch has much litter, including a black rag doll, which some neighbors interpreted as a less than positive message from someone to Stein. Stein’s “For sale — Financing available” sign has fallen onto the grass, lying there forlornly for months, according to neighbors.

“The pre-fab house is unfinished,” said another neighbor, “and nobody’s lived in it ever.”

Other neighbors speculated that Stein wanted to sell the pre-fab now for $350,000 to $400,000, but he likely would not be able to unless he returns to town and abides by the rules.

Stein could not be tracked down for comment; he was not in town for previous encounters with the neighbors and city regulatory agencies.

How might Wayne Jones’ purchase of 123, if it stands, affect the pre-fab’s chances? Another unanswered question.

Also of interest to neighbors was the brick garage. It clearly “belong” architecturally, to what is, at least for now, Wayne Jones’ new house. But it sits no longer on the land of 123 but on the new lot of the pre-fab.

“Anybody who gets involved in this house,” said Attorney Wright, “has to be very careful.” She indicated that even the description of the lots, or the portions, to use the Land Records lingo, was murky.

Wayne Jones’s first move? “I’m going to get a lawyer,” he said.

Previous Independent coverage of New Haven’s foreclosure crisis:

• 2nd Foreclosure in 3 Months Dims Bright St.
• After Foreclosure, W’ville Owner Still Hopes To Sell
• He’s Not Buying, Yet
• Quiet Foreclosure on Porter Street
• 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.