New Haven Independent

When Marvin Bivens and his wife Mary arrived at 130 Hazel St. Saturday morning, they did choose to observe the fate of 130 Hazel St. from the warmth of their heated sedan.

That turned out to be a comment not just on the weather, but perhaps on a quirk of recessions and foreclosures — the emergence of a tipping point at which an enterprising neighbor begins hesitating to rescue abandoned homes.

Hazel Street looked almost Currier and Ives-like in the snow, despite the fact that it was the setting of a foreclosure.

Bivens owns three properties in the area. The couple lives on nearby Lilac Street. Over the past two years Marvin has bought, and then sold, two homes in the immediate area. Both he bought at foreclosure sales. He made a decent profit on each.

Bivens knows how to build and renovate because he worked with his hands when younger. “I still can’t read blueprints,” he said, with a smile, “but I know people who can.”

In this case, though, Bivens had no plans to put up cash to buy the house.

“I came by,” Marvin Bivens said in a diplomatic tone, “merely to see what the house would sell for, because I own other properties nearby.”

Court-appointed, attorney Sheldon Messinger decided to wait a little longer than usual, given the weather, to see if legitimate bidders would show up with checks clutched in their mittens.

The courts, he said, rarely cancel foreclosures due to storms. He pulled up his parka against the snow, and added, “Our office closed at 1:30 on Friday. I know the courts closed at noon or so. I didn’t hear from the court not to proceed, and I’m under orders from the court.”

Messinger said he also had received several calls of interest in the house. So there he was moving his feet up and down to stay warm. And there were the Bivenses in their cozy Lincoln Town Car.

There are instances, Messinger said, when a judge will not approve a foreclosure sale if he senses that the weather prevented potential bidders from showing up. Did there have to be three inches of snow? Nine inches? It’s a judgment call.

He said he had contacted at least nine heirs and executors in connection to 130 Hazel, in which an elderly couple had lived for many years. The Bivenses had known them, slightly.

When the second spouse died, none of the descendants wanted to move in. The house had been empty for some time.

A few people walked by, but all they had to offer were a few friendly snowballs. Neither they nor the Bivenses had in handthe $8,500 certified check required to bid, 10 percent of the 100-year old home’s estimated $85,000 market value.

Wachovia Bank bid $28,877 on the house, announced Messinger. And that was it. The Bivenses did not get out of their sedan.

“The amount will cover the back taxes and the attorney’s fees. Well, that’s it,” the committee said.

Then the foreclosure sign, by now covered up to three quarters of its height in snow, was removed, and the attorney slowly drove off.

Marvin Bivens was asked why he hadn’t bid. Because of changing times, he said.

He had bought one house on Winchester Avenue two years ago for $40,000, fixed it up, and sold it for $180,000. Yale, which had helped Bivens with a down payment, also found him a buyer. Bivens’ profit was about $90,000. He similarly did well on a property on Gilbert Street.

“You got to know what you’re doing,” said Bivens, who’s been a custodian for the State of Connecticut for 20 years, “because the inspectors check things. But, yes, you can make a profit.”

130 Hazel might have been a possibility if it occurred a year ago. Today, as Marvin Bivens plans for his retirement in April, he’s going to be cautious. “I’m going to hold onto my money until next year. Things are bad now,” he said. “When I retire I’ll do more. Over the next months, I just want to be safe.”

Then he and his wife rolled up their windows, and after some difficulty with spinning tires, drove slowly down Hazel Street towards Shelton.

Previous Independent coverage of New Haven’s foreclosure crisis:

• Foreclosure Evictions Halted
• Foreclosure Fee-Slashing Judge Leaves Town
• She’ll Be Watching Deutsche Bank
• A Last Pre-Foreclosure Look At A Lifetime Past
• New Yorker Snags Foreclosed-Upon Gem
• Foreclosure Dream Goes Sour
• 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.