New Haven Independent

O’Neill, a West Haven police officer who lives in Hamden, got a bargain when he was the top bidder Saturday at a foreclosure auction in New Haven’s Hill neighborhood. He won with just a $11,200. offer. But he isn’t measuring the curtains yet.

“I think the court will probably shut the sale down,” he said.

O’Neill was the only bidder to show up with the required $12,800 deposit check for the house at 78 Second St. The house has a fair market value of $128,000, according to court records.

The city of New Haven, which filed the foreclosure suit over $3,869.05 in unpaid property taxes and interest, placed a bid for the property by fax, and lost to O’Neill by just $100.

Notably absent from the bidding, said Mark Pearson (pictured, left), the court-appointed lawyer running the sale, was Household Realty Corp. According to court files Household holds the primary mortgage on the property, totalling over $183,000. A second bank, Equity One, Inc., holds a secondary mortgage for $9,993, and also failed to put in an appearance.

“I’ve never seen this before, and I’ve been doing this 20-plus years,” Pearson said. “Usually the bank is the foreclosing party, or if it’s a tax foreclosure they send somebody over here to bid to cover their interests.”

O’Neill has been going to foreclosure auctions around the area recently “just to see what’s happening with the market.” He said that while the price might seem ridiculously low, bidding on a foreclosed house without being able to go inside is always a gamble.

“The problem is, it could look nice on the outside, but it could be trashed on the inside. So a house that you think you’re getting for a deal, now you have to put in $30,000 because the pipes have blown.”

O’Neill and Pearson agreed that the winning bid, which did not even meet the 10 percent deposit, is likely to be thrown out as too low by the judge in the case, who has 30 days to approve the sale.

Also, Pearson noted, whether the house’s owners, Talbert and Dannette Barnett, might manage to reclaim the house during the approval period.

“They had one other house in foreclosure before, and managed to work it out,” Pearson said.

The owners, who could not be reached for comment, did not return Pearson’s phone calls or put in an appearance in the case.

Previous Independent coverage of New Haven’s foreclosure crisis:

• Absentee Banklords Thwart Foreclosure Sales
• Judge Forces WPCA To Give Mom A Chance
• WPCA Uproots Tenants, Too
• Home-Rescue Squad Ignores WPCA
• Sewer Agency Unloads House
• Foreclosure Evictions Halted
• Let The Bank Have It, This Time
• Hazel St. Sale Reflects Economic Climate
• Hill Foreclosure Triggers Memories, & Prayers
• 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.