Timothy and Lois Maduh live in Hamden. They won a foreclosure auction for a Dixwell house not to move there, but to generate cash so they can buy a rundown ranch house and make it handicapped-accessible for their ten-year-old daughter Precious, who has cerebral palsy.
But first they must get approval from the courts. The house, on Bristol Street, was appraised at $180,000. The Maduhs (pictured) won it Saturday with an $80,000 bid.
The attorney handling the sale, Joseph J. Sensale, warned before the auction that the court often rejects bids too far below market value. He said there is no hard and fast rule, but cited 70 percent of market value as a rough estimate of what judges tend to allow.
Two parties showed up to bid Saturday, the Maduhs and Lonnie Garris Jr. At 11 o’clock, they squared off, with the bidding starting at $20,000. Because the house is occupied by tenants, the prospective buyers were not able to see the inside. But between bids, they wandered the perimeter of the house, trying to size the place up.
When Timothy Maduh put in a bid of $80,000, Garris declined to go higher.
If the court does approve the sale, the Maduhs will also have to pay $22,890.99 owed by the previous owner in back taxes to the city of New Haven.
The New Haven Water Pollution Control Authority successfully brought a foreclosure suit against the house’s owner, Lucretia Faulk, for an $11,000 debt. According to Lois Maduh, Faulk’s children had been occupying the house since she moved to a nursing home.
If the Maduhs do close on a Hamden ranch, Lois said, they will install wide doorways and ramps to allow their daughter, Precious, to get around more easily. They currently rent an apartment, where they aren’t in a position to make permanent alterations.
Lois left nursing school to take care of Precious when she was born prematurely at 24 weeks. Lois now works from home, making shay butter soaps. She said it’s frustrating that she and her husband, who have worked hard their entire lives, don’t qualify for assistance in covering the significant expenses of raising a handicapped child. But even though it’s harder than she could have imagined, being a mother is still a joy. “That smile every morning is well worth it,” she said.
Anyone with leads on a ranch house the Maduhs could buy and renovate can contact Lois here.
Previous Independent coverage of New Haven’s foreclosure crisis:
• Reluctant Bidder Snags F. Haven Bargain
‚Ä¢ 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.
‚Ä¢ After Foreclosure, W’ville Owner Still Hopes To Sell
‚Ä¢ He’s Not Buying, Yet
• Quiet Foreclosure on Porter Street
• 3 Minutes Too Late
• Historic Gambardella Property Foreclosed
•2 Homes Lost, 1 Gained
‚Ä¢ “Everybody’s Got To Eat”
• More Foreclosures, More Signs
‚Ä¢ Foreclosure Sale Benefits Archie Moore’s
• Rescue Squad Swings Into Action
• A Bidder Shows Up
‚Ä¢ Bank Beats Tanya’s Bid
• Westville Auction Draws A Crowd
• DeStefano: Foreclosure Plan Ready
• Can They Help?
‚Ä¢ “We Should Over-Regulate These Bastards”
• Rosa Hears of Rescues
• WPCA Grilled on Foreclosures
‚Ä¢ WPCA’s Targets Struggle To Dig Out
• Sue The Subprimers?
• WPCA Hearing Delayed
‚Ä¢ 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
‚Ä¢ Renters Caught In Foreclosure King’s Fall
‚Ä¢ She’s One Of 1,150 In The Foreclosure Mill
‚Ä¢ Foreclosures Threaten Perrotti’s Empire
‚Ä¢“I’m Not Going To Lay Down And Let Them Take My House”
‚Ä¢ Struggling Couple Sues Over “Scam”
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.