Thomas MacMillan Photo
Allan Appel File Photo
While working to earn votes in her pursuit of a state representative seat, Debra Hauser has been involved in another campaign — to save her East Rock home.
“My husband had a failed business,” Hauser said on Thursday afternoon, when asked about the circumstances of foreclosure proceedings against her. She said she has recently come to an agreement with her lender to pay back the money her family owes.
Hauser (pictured), a psychologist, is one of two Democrats running for New Haven’s only open state legislative seat, representing the 96th General Assembly district. The district includes parts of Hamden and parts of New Haven, including East Rock, Fair Haven, and Wooster Square. Her opponent for the Democratic nomination is East Rock Alderman Roland Lemar.
Foreclosure proceedings on her house at 396 Livingston St. (pictured) in East Rock were initiated in November 2009. Hauser’s lawyer, James Brownstein, stated on Thursday that a settlement with the bank had been reached, but that the final settlement paperwork has not yet been filed.
An online database lists the value of Hauser’s home and property at $631,890.
According to the foreclosure case file in the clerk’s office at Superior Court on Church Street, New Alliance Bank initiated foreclosure proceedings against Hauser in November 2009. The complaint lists Hauser, her husband Jack Hauser, and Connecticut Weight And Wellness, LLC as defendants. Jack Hauser is the principal of CT Weight And Wellness.
According to the complaint, the Hausers mortgaged their home for a $500,000 loan to CT Weight And Wellness in October 2007. By June 2009, they had defaulted on the mortgage. In October 2009, the bank sent a written demand for payment. When no payment was made, the bank filed for strict foreclosure and breach of contract against Jack Hauser and CT Weight and Wellness.
Marshal Peter Criscuolo earned $108.80 for serving the Hausers’ lawyer with foreclosure papers on Nov. 12, 2009.
Jack Hauser filed for bankruptcy on Nov. 30, 2009.
Over the next six months, lawyers for the Hausers and the bank traded repeated motions asking for information and objecting to the questions being asked. On April 26, in a filing by lawyers for New Alliance, the bank charged that “The Defendants are guilty of repeated vexatious and dilatory tactics, which have substantially delayed this action and forced the Plaintiff to incur unnecessary attorneys fees.”
The same document accused the Hausers of using a “dragnet method of requesting information in hopes of obtaining a defense.” The bank objected to what it characterized as overly broad discovery requests by the Hausers’ lawyer.
“I didn’t think they were dilatory,” said Brownstein, Hauser’s lawyer, on Thursday. The bank’s charges are standard rhetoric between lawyers, he said.
Hauser said she and her attorney cooperated fully with the foreclosure case.
On June 3, the judge granted the bank’s motion to default because of the Hausers’ failure to plead. Brownstein said on Thursday that the Hausers had not responded to the complaint with a plea because they had been on the verge of a settlement.
In the last filing in the case file, on June 21, the Hausers’ attorney made a motion to reopen the default for a failure to plead. Brownstein stated in the motion that the parties have reached a settlement agreement.
The bank’s attorney could not be reached for comment Thursday.
Reached by phone on Thursday, Hauser said the matter had recently been resolved. “Our lawyer worked out a resolution with the bank,” she said. The settlement involved a payment and the foreclosure proceedings have been dropped, Hauser said.
“A payment has been made,” Brownstein said on Thursday. “The settlement paperwork hasn’t been filed yet.” The bank’s attorneys are finalizing the settlement paperwork now, he said. He declined to reveal details of the repayment plan.
On Thursday, Hauser sought to place the case in context. “My home was used as collateral on a business venture,” she explained. Her husband, a cardiologist, started CT Weight and Wellness as a “medically supervised weight loss facility,” she said. Then the economic downturn struck and, like many other small business owners, the Hausers faced “severe setbacks” resulting in “significant personal sacrifice,” she said.
“This wasn’t indiscriminate spending,” Hauser said. “I believe I learned a great deal from this. I faced the issue and we resolved it.”
Going through the process has given her perspective on the experience of foreclosure, she said. It has “naturally made me sensitive to people in Connecticut facing similar problems,” she said.
“This experience will make me a better legislator,” Hauser said. “This is real hard-won life experience.” She said she knows first-hand the difficulties facing small businesses and the consequences of business failure.
West Rock Alderman Darnell Goldson, an adviser to the Hauser campaign, said that Hauser’s experience with foreclosure should strengthen her qualifications for state representative. “This would make her a better representative,” he said. Hauser now has “life experience” that will help her understand the difficulties facing families in foreclosure, Goldson said.
Lemar, Hauser’s opponent, had this to say on Thursday afternoon: “It’s an unfortunate time for Deb and her children. My thoughts are with them and I wish them the best.”