As a Missouri bank claimed the Emily Road home of a Laotian family, neighbors had no interest in a sofa sitting out front, even though it was in excellent shape.
Luis Santana Jr. and Sr. (pictured) were among the neighbors who showed up to watch a foreclosure sale Saturday morning on the quiet, tight-knit road just east of Middletown Avenue in Quinnipiac Meadows.
They watched with concern as New Haven’s tiny, hard-working Laotian community lost one of its members, Phonepheth Khennavong, who wasn’t present at the proceedings.
It was the culmination of a tale of job layoffs and illness that had the Santanas bemoaning the loss of good and valued neighbors who had shared the quiet, tree-lined road. People on the street now worry about who might move in.
Khennavong was called “John” by Luis Santana, Jr. They played basketball in the former’s backyard. Khennavong lost his job at the Lynn Ladder Company on River Street in Fair Haven a year ago. That compounded the financial difficulties the Khennavong family faced: three years earlier Khennavong’s mother, Muang, lost her job at Covidien Surgical Supply due to the onset of diabetes. The house was co-owned by mother and son.
People on the block, recalled the Santanas, often came over to the 60-year-old Cape home to help the Khennavongs, especially with complications of the mother’s diabetes, which soon became worse and led to serious kidney problems and then dialysis.
With both mother and son working, the two incomes made managing the mortgage payments possible. By the end of 2007 late payments and penalties were apparently adding up.
“They lost one income, and then two,” said Santana, Sr. “And then that was it. Otherwise, they would be still be here. They were a good quiet family, who worked hard.”
Like the Khennavongs, the Santanas had moved into the area about ten years ago. On the other side of the Khennavongs’ house live another Laotian family, that of Vong Luangsay. Although he preferred not to be photographed, he said that not he but his parents were neighbors of the Khennavongs. He said they have been living on the block for seven years. With his wife and son, Luangsay was visiting.
He said many Laotians, like Muang Khennavong, were employed at the Covidien Surgical Supply plant on Middletown Avenue, about half a mile north of the Ross/Woodward School on Middletown.
Khennavong, who graduated from Wilbur Cross High School in 1993, apparently had trouble finding work after being laid off by Lynn Ladder. He had a girlfriend from Long Island, the neighbor, Luangsay, said. The girlfriend lived with him on Emily Road after Muang died.
The Santanas said they had talked to Khennavong about purchasing the house. The exploratory conversation occurred last week, Santana Jr. said. “But he told me it was all too far along by then, that it was too late.”
They apparently moved out on Friday, a day before the foreclosure sale, headed for the girlfriend’s family digs on Long Island. On Saturday morning the court’s attorney Walter Bansley drove up.
He said he had received a number of calls about the house, including one from a woman who contacted him several times. “She told me she was pre-approved, and had a certified check, but she didn’t show up.”
Apart from the adjacent neighbors, the Santanas and the Luangsays, only a few others trickled over, including Linda Smith. At 11 a.m. sharp, the house, appraised at about $165,000, was sold to the only bidder, Citimortgage Bank, of O’Fallon, Missouri. The bank held a note from Muang and Phonepheth Khennavong. Its balance began at $121,000 in 2004. By the day of the foreclosure, unpaid interests, lawyers fees, and costs, had ballooned it to $138,500.
That was the bank’s bid. Without a competing offer, as some robins hopped across the lawn, the deal was done.
Or was it?
Counselor Bansley was been greeted like an old and valued friend by Smith, who had retained Bansley to handle her own home purchase nearby. Bansley said that, technically, the committee or the court owned the house until the court approved Citimortgage’s purchase. “That would be about 30 days,” said Bansley to the Santanas and Smith.
Smith said she hopes a good quiet neighbor move in. Bansley offered a possible route of action, if the Santanas, or a party they know, is interested. “Call the court clerk and try to reach the bank maybe before they give the house to realtor. Maybe you can buy it from the bank; they usually will get a realtor and put it on the market, you know, but first I have to technically transfer the deed to them.”
Bansley, gruff, caring man, has a colorful history. He spent 11 years as the commander of a U.S. Marine infantry company. Then, after going to law school at night, he spent eight years as a lawyer in the Reserves’ Judge Advocate Corps, where he has defended numerous marines in Iraq. He said he traveled a lot. “I just happen to have to do some traveling beginning early in August. Maybe I’ll just have to be away,” he said to the Santanas, with a helpful nod. “And that extra time will help you.”
Everyone present wanted a local person, and, at best, a neighbor to buy the Khennavong house. Would the Santanas move on the window that Bansley was opening? They didn’t appear to think they could afford the purchase themselves. But they took down the information and were grateful for Bansley’s suggestion. Perhaps they would talk to the Vongs next door.
The Lao Association of Connecticut estimates that approximately 5,000 Indochinese people live in the Nutmeg State, meaning Vietnamese, Cambodian, Laotian combined. Most of the Laotians come from around the city of Luang Prabang, not the capital, Vientiane. Many of New Haven’s Laotians work at Covidien, which produces surgical staples.
Previous Independent coverage of New Haven’s foreclosure crisis:
• 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.