New Haven Independent

Hunter happened to walk by 623-625 Washington Saturday morning as it went through the final stage of foreclosure. As a young girl, Hunter used to roller skate near the house.

“I was born on Button and raised on Clover Street where I still live,” said Hunter, who’s 33. “And I’m really attached to this place. When lots of people think of the Hill, they think only bad things, but it’s not so. Lots of people have great sentiments for this area. I don’t like to see this kind of thing happening.”

This kind of thing on Saturday was the taking back of 623-625 Washington by Deutsche Bank, the German-based lender responsible for the most foreclosure filings in town during the current crisis leaving neighborhoods like the Hill with a new wave of abandoned homes.

When no other bidder turned up for the 117-year-old house, the bank bid $141,000 and retrieved the two-family in lieu of the debt owed, approximately $162,000. The bank’s purchase price, however, was below the most recent market appraisal, $150,000. Six months ago, the appraisal was $185,000.

Hunter knows the problems of her neighborhood well. 623-625, she said, was lived in by a Mexican family, with two girls, for the last two years. “They were very nice. They used to have parties right outside there, people were invited. But before that, drugs were dealt from this house. Dealers from New York were on the second floor. The cops came and busted them, and guns were drawn, the whole thing.”

So she’s sad, she said, that the family left. The same fate actually could have been hers as well. But Hunter and her family fought that fate, and were successful.

“My mother’s house on Clover was almost foreclosed too,” she said, as she looked down Washington two blocks in the direction of her house. “But my brothers and sisters, we came together and saved the place. Got the payments reduced. It’s all right now.”

“I’d like to see neighborhood people, local people be able to live [at 623-625 Washington]. Banks shouldn’t own it. There are a lot of people who have good memories of the Hill.”

As Hunter reminisced, Justine Miller, the court’s attorney who had conducted the sale, bought a bowl of artificial poinsettias from a street peddler. Hunter knew her, and the two chatted briefly. Then a Jehovah’s Witness and her family walked gingerly up the broken steps and the sagging porch of 625 to ring the bell.

“No one’s living there,” said Hunter.

“A Mexican family was here two weeks ago,” said the minister.

“Not any more.”

Previous Independent coverage of New Haven’s foreclosure crisis:

• Foreclosure Evictions Halted
• Hazel St. Sale Reflects Economic Climate
• 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.