New Haven Independent

If foreclosures worked the way you might think they do — with abandoned homes selling at auctions to local people who want to claim them and fix them up — 13 Lewis would be on its way to revival now.

But in a heartbreaking tale for a young Fair Haven family, it didn’t work out that way.

Pete Bellacicco and his wife Yang had hoped to buy the historic oysterman’s property at a foreclosure sale in September. (Click here to read that story.) Their successful bid of $76,000, however, was contested (Click here to read that) by the company that held the mortgage for the foreclosed-upon owner, Bethel-area’s newly re-elected State Rep. Jason Bartlett.

The Bellaciccos spent nearly $3,000 and an agonizing two months going through four hearings to try to obtain and restore the 113 year-old property. Those efforts were thwarted last week.

Lawyers representing the mortgage company presented evidence of a “work-out,” and presented sufficient documentation in court, that Judge Bruce Levin ruled that Bartlett should retain possession.

Bartlett himself never appeared in court. Showing up instead were lawyers from Hartford-based Hunt Liebert Jacobson, representing what appeared to be a successive chain of banks to whom the debt had been assigned. That chain of lenders included Deutsche Bank and then Washington Mutual, and finally whatever entity represented it after WAMU was dissolved.

“I really don’t know what this solves,” Bellacicco said Wednesday. “The property continues to deteriorate badly. Bartlett can’t be forced to do anything with it, but it’s a blight, a clashing blight next to that new playground.”

Bellacicco was referring to Lewis Park, which sits adjacent to the property, and is undergoing a renovation, having been selected as the beneficiary of the Lowes Stores “Heroes Program.”

“It’s just going to draw in kids from the neighborhood, and they’re going to enter the house, and there’s going to be trouble.”

Bellacicco said that his Hamden-based lawyer, Geoffrey Einhorn, advised him to remove the wood from the door, which he had placed there after he and his wife made the successful bid. “If someone’s injured because of how I boarded up the place temporarily until we began to fix it, I could be responsible,” he said.

They had plans immediately to renovate the now completely gutted house and either move in themselves or rent it. They live nearby in the neighborhood.

Bellacicco drives a truck for the Connecticut Food Bank. “My lawyer did advise me that we had no legal standing,” he said. “Still, we loved the house and I thought Bartlett was bluffing.’

It turned out he was not. Or rather the mortgage company lawyers were not.

“I hated when they used that word, ‘homeowner,’” said Bellacicco, recalling the proceedings. “Because there’s no home there. He’s this absentee property owner. We wanted to make it a home.”

“All my lawyer could do,” said Bellacicco, “was make the public policy argument. That local people like us were good for the house and the neighborhood. And without us, the same kind of thing is likely to happen again.”

But the case law was against the young family. “They wouldn’t show us the document that said a real work-out was accepted,” Bellacicco said, “and I don’t even think they had it to show the judge. Just a Blackberry message, but it was enough. The judge ruled the ‘homeowner’ prevailed against us.”

Bellacicco said it was not just his loss, but the neighborhood’s. “That place is gutted. It needs extensive renovation before it can be rented. And good luck. It had better happen fast before it becomes an arson target.”

In previous interviews, Bartlett had said it was important for him to “make himself whole,” that is, fulfill his financial obligations. He said this week that he has located a partner/investor for the property.

Although Bartlettt declined to name the investor, he said he was a local person and and they were aware of the house’s door being ajar. “We have the key, and we’re addressing that,” he added.

Bartlett said the plan was to fix the house up for rental or for sale, expeditiously. How did he feel about the way the foreclosure drama had played out thus far?

“Look, I’m not emotional about it one way or the other.”

Bartlett reported that he has a furnace on order and repair work “will be taking place over the next couple of weeks.” He has had the building sreecured.

Meanwhile, Bellacicco said he and his wife are not pessimistic, nor have they given up on buying a house in Fair Haven.

However, they’ve learned a lesson or two about the perils of bidding at foreclosure sales.

“Next time, we’ll try to find one already owned by the bank, or maybe the city,” he said. “I won’t need any lawyers next time to find out that people like us who want local ownership have little standing under these circumstances in court.”

However, there’s another option available. “My preference is to sell the place,” Bartlett said. “If that family is interested in buying, they should be in touch with me. I’ll entertain an offer.”

Pete Bellacicco said he just might reconsider 13 Lewis, but only if it comes up in forelcosure once again.

Within the next few weeks, the Bellaciccos will get their deposit back in full.

Previous Independent coverage of New Haven’s foreclosure crisis:

• Judge Slashes Foreclosure Bounty
• Tax Break Saves Woman’s House
• Bank Replaces “Gunshot Alley” Landlord
• Foreclosure Bill OK’d
• Singh Seeks Home For A Song
• Foreclosure’s Neighbor Worries More About Speeding
• 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.