New Haven Independent

Quinones lives in a trim white house at the corner of Gilbert and Sherman avenues right next door to 85 Sherman, which was up for foreclosure sale Saturday morning.

Number 85 Sherman, which still has two tenants, was owned by former Alderman King. Kingo fell from the comparative heights of aldermanic power — he was head of the Public Safety Committee and a key swing vote in the anointing of the Board of Aldermen’s president — when he got into legal troubles with two properties he owned. He ran up code violations, failed to pay taxes, and was arrested for allegedly assaulting a female tenant in a fight over a Georgia hot.

Click here, here, and here, for previous stories on the Drew King saga.

King lost one of the homes, 274 Edgewood, to the city. Subsequently the property was bought for a song by Neighborhood Housing, which is in the process of renovation.

The house that Quinones neighbors, 85 Sherman, was in jeopardy because King, who purchased it for $142,000 in 2005, had more than $3,000 in back taxes unpaid.

Foreclosure action was initiated against him in April by U.S. National Bank Association as, so says the court file, “trustee for Structured Assets Investment Loan Trust Certificates 2006-21.”

Nobody showed up to participate in the sale Saturday but the bank’s representative, attorney Casey Burak, and the attorney appointed by the court to oversee the auction, attorney Michael Milazzo. At 11 a.m., while Quinones looked on, the bank made its bid: $158,000 on the property that was appraised at $172,000. Thus Drew King’s second house was lost to him.

Quinones was around, but not to make a bid. He said that he sees King from time to time, and that the building is decently kept. Indeed, not everyone might approve of the lime and purple color scheme, but the building looks freshly painted. The lawn is trim. There are well tended plantings. According to Quinones, the two tenants are quiet and good neighbors.

Casey Burak, from the Hunt Leibert Jacobson law firm in Hartford, attorneys for the bank, said she had no information on what the bank’s plans are for the building.

On a one to ten scale Quinones said he rates his block of Sherman between Gilbert and Frontage, about a four. Crime is not bad, he said. The halfway houses operated by Project More right across the street make for OK neighbors too.

Quinones kept coming back to the hazard of speeding, which can put a neighborhood in danger every bit as much as crime or blight. “I see minimum,” he said, “ten to 12 accidents on this corner a year. My wife calls in to the city and asks for a stop sign, but they say that’s not possible.”

Indeed, with a light a block away at George, a stop sign would not work, it appears. On the other hand, the danger of the situation was evident in the bent chain link fence fronting Quinones’ property. “I was spreading salt a couple of winters ago,” he said, “when a car came speeding and swerved right around my back and into the fence. A few feet this way and I would have been killed.”

He described another accident, when a driver ran the stop sign at Gilbert and was hit by a fast car going south on Sherman. “The car ended upside down,” he said. “I had to pull the woman out because it could have caught on fire.”

Quinones said he’s thinking of putting up a stone fence or some barrier stronger than chain link. “I have a 7 year-old who plays in the yard,” he said, “with his little buddies. Every time they’re out there, I think what if a car comes into and over the fence. It’s not right.”

If Drew King were still head of the Public Safety Committee and still owned 85 Sherman, maybe something might be done more quickly about the corner. Quinones in the meantime will be spending more time looking out his living room window, both at the sound of screeching breaks and at the fate of foreclosed house next door.

Previous Independent coverage of New Haven’s foreclosure crisis:

• Tax Break Saves Woman’s House
• Bank Replaces “Gunshot Alley” Landlord
• Foreclosure Bill OK’d
• Singh Seeks Home For A Song
• Networking Replaces Foreclosure at Christy’s
• Foreclosure Bargain — & Renewal — Jeopardized
• Bank Outbids Akbar; Family May Keep Home
• “So Don’t Worry About Pablo”
• Bankruptcy Postpones Foreclosure
• Next-Door Foreclosures, 53 Years Apart
• They Met On Foreclosure Way
• Little Garage Draws Big Bids
• A 2nd Chance on Lewis Street
• Foreclosure Attracts New Breed of “Specialist”
• In Foreclosures, Judge’s Hands Tied
• Home Saved From Foreclosure. Cycle, Too
• A House For Precious?
• Deutsche Bank Grabs Dixwell Condo
• Reluctant Bidder Snags F. Haven Bargain
• Well, There’s Always Powerball
• Neighbors Retrieve Home From Bank
• Somebody Has Plans For Bassett Street
• Foreclosed, the Khennavongs Leave the Santanas
• Foreclosure Steal May Be Too Good
• 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”

To learn about the ROOF Project, a community-wide effort to help New Haveners navigate the foreclosure crisis, click here.

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.