Neighbors, city inspector speak at 2nd Moller Avenue house hearing

The foreclosed house at 7228 Moller Avenue that sat vacant for more than two years, and faced demolition, got a second chance Wednesday. Four neighbors came to show support for saving the house at a second hearing at city hall.

Maplewood building inspector, Jeff Rask, said he saw the house that morning. He said he found the back door open, and when he went in there were open junction boxes in the kitchen. He also said shutters were lying on the ground and the rear deck is deteriorating. He said it’s not fit for occupancy and not compliant with Maplewood ordinances.

See also: Maplewood house faces demolition: neighbors want a buyer instead

Next door neighbor, Doug McElvain, said the house has an interesting history. It and the one next to it were built for daughters of the original occupant of his house.

He said it was in good condition until Bank of America foreclosed on it in approximately 2012. The bank continues to pay the taxes, according to county records, but didn’t have a representative at the meeting.

McElvain said the woman who lived there tried to renegotiate her loan for more than a year. “Finally the bank said, here’s a little check—move. So she took the check and moved,” he said. “Then the bank foreclosed on the house.”

McElvain’s wife, Lori, said an agent with Barb Summers Realty, Jim Brooks, had a buyer in 2012 but the sale was declared illegal due to robo-signing. She said there were five offers within two days when it went on the market.

Since then anyone wanting to buy the house hasn’t been able to establish a contact with the bank.

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The court will decide the fate of the house in approximately a week, though after the hearing Rask said it’s is not in a condition that the city will demolish it, and if not sold soon it would be “stabilized”, such as the former Bettendorf’s Supermarket was when it sat unused.