 | | | Front of 3195 Condit Road, Lafayette Photo Cathy Tyson
| | | | | | For neighbors, it can't happen soon enough. In an area with freshly painted homes, neatly mowed lawns and lush rose bushes, this house looks more than a little out of place. They have been patiently waiting for someone to demolish or start seriously remodeling this home on the corner of Condit Road and Pleasant Hill Road that's been declared a public nuisance.
As reported in January of this year, selling this foreclosed house can only be described as challenging. "This home slipped through the cracks," said Carolyn Lacy, Contemporary Home Solutions Manager, "Nobody could figure it out." A Notice of Default was issued by Countrywide Bank in March of 2008, but they also filed a Notice of Rescission less than a month later. A Notice of Rescission cancels or annuls the effect of a Notice of Default.
For almost two years the property languished - the homeowner erroneously believed the property had been foreclosed by the bank. A flurry of official notices and certified letters were ignored, from Notice to Comply to Notice of Violation Lien and more.
In the middle of the original process, Countrywide Home Loans was purchased by Bank of America. Bank of America finally issued another Notice of Default on the property in March, 2010 and has a Trustee Sale scheduled for July 17, 2010. Interested parties are invited to bid at public auction for the property, with the home ultimately going to the highest bidder.
The home was purchased in August of 2004 for $845,000 via a nothing-down first and second mortgage through Countrywide Home Loans. For real estate investors, that was a lifetime ago, when demand out-stripped supply, before anyone had heard of a credit default swap.
"Trespassers continue to break into the property. The presence of an empty swimming pool and the use of candles at night pose risks to trespassers as well as neighbors. The City of Lafayette wants to eliminate such risks by demolishing the structure and filling in the pool prior to the trustee sale. Efforts are currently underway to petition the Courts to allow this to happen," said Lacy.
Bank of America is trying to do the right thing and has assigned a representative from their Field Services Department to clean up and secure the property. "I'm working with Bank of America on property maintenance," said Greg Wixom, County Building Inspector, "I visit the property every week to make sure B of A is meeting their end of the bargain." He's also working with Mosquito Abatement and checks on the water level of the pool to make sure its less than 18 inches deep.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA