So explained a politically connected marshal to a state representative who asked why he was getting socked on fees for a foreclosure.
The state representative is New Haven’s Bob Megna (pictured). He got a taste of what it’s like for the growing numbers of New Haveners being foreclosed on — when he himself was served with a foreclosure complaint for a three-family investment property he owns through a limited liability corporation.
The marshal who’s making a killing off the crisis thanks to City Hall was … well, you can probably guess. (Here’s a hint.)
Megna makes no excuses for failing to pay a city tax bill. But the experience left him wondering about the private profits being made off the foreclosure crisis — and considering pushing legislation to curb add-on vulture costs. He submitted the following article about his experience.
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By Robert Megna
“Everybody’s got to eat.”
Those were the words spoken to me by State Marshal Peter Criscoulo when he served a foreclosure complaint to me on behalf of the City of New Haven. Mr. Criscoulo then went on to name the participants who make a living from this business.
The question I had asked of Mr. Criscoulo was: “Why wasn’t a simple letter sent to me by you or the law firm representing my city before the foreclosure action was undertaken?”
After all the January 2008 tax bill was sent to the wrong address. The bill should have been sent to my office at 5 Edwards St. — the same place at which the complaint was served.
The complaint regarded a property I purchased last August at 535 Quinnipiac Ave. The property is a three-family dwelling. I was served a foreclosure complaint for not paying the taxes due January of 2008. The taxes were $1,753.09.
When I purchased the property under a limited liability company known as “140 Q Ave
LLC,” my closing attorney merely indicated upon the deed that 140 Q Ave LLC is a business located in the City of New Haven, failing to list a mailing address on the deed. Therefore, according to the assessors office, the tax bill was sent to the vacant three-family property.
I know I am responsible for making sure my taxes are paid on my properties even if I
do not receive a bill, regardless of the reason why. But what about the obligation of the debt collectors to limit expenses to be paid by the taxpayer?
I asked the same question of the attorney representing the law firm.
I believe some time in April the law firm of Dolan & Luzzi, Inc. was retained by the City of New Haven to collect outstanding taxes from 140 Q Ave LLC. On May 19th I received a foreclosure complaint and spoke with Attorney Todd Sobieraj, who drafted the complaint on behalf of the firm. The complaint was the first and only notice I received from the law firm.
In order to locate 140 Q Ave LLC, Mr. Sobieraj simply went to the Secretary of the State’s website from his desktop computer. All limited liability corporations and their addresses are available at the website. The site lists an office address of 5 Edwards St., New Haven. The process takes about two minutes and is free.
I questioned why the collection process did not begin with a simple collection letter.
Attorney Sobieraj indicated to me that his assignment as an employee of the law firm was to commence a foreclosure action only.
Let’s see who “eats” as a result of this-high priced dept collection practice:
Title Searcher: $225.00
Attorney Fees: $468.00
Tenant Search on vacant building to Marshall Criscoulo: $50.00
Additional fee to Mr. Criscoulo for handing me the complaint at my office: $438.00.
So the legal costs and marshal fees, on top of the taxes, are $1,181.00.
A foreclosure process is expensive. I believe we should limit the cost to the already
financially-burdened taxpayer. Also, I understand the marshal is empowered to collect the outstanding tax for a fee of 15 percent, or $282.41. And maybe some attorneys are taking advantage of the process and capitalizing on the some taxpayers who made a simple mistake and would pay short of a foreclosure process.
I spoke with our tax collector, C.J. Cuticello, who confirmed the city expects vendors to minimize the expenses to taxpayers while undertaking the collection process.
I believe there needs to be clear written policy of what is expected of tax collection vendors doing business with the City of New Haven. More so now given the foreclosure rate and economic conditions. the city needs to mitigate the cost to the taxpayer.
The taxpayer has got to eat, too.
Previous Independent coverage of New Haven’s foreclosure crisis:
• 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.