News
EDWARDS — There's a condominium in Miller Ranch, a deed restricted housing development, that is on the market for $204,000, sans deed restriction.
It happened because the property went into foreclosure, and because of the outstanding debt the owner incurred on top of the original mortgage, it didn't make financial sense for the county to buy the property back at that time, said Tori Franks, an Eagle County housing program analyst.
The county's policy is absolutely to save and protect deed restrictions, but this Miller Ranch property was a unique situation, she said.
“The previous owner accumulated a large amount of debt that we would have had to pay,” she said. “We would have taken a big loss.”
The bank owns the property now, however, and the county does have an offer in to buy the property back and maintain its deed restriction, said Kim Williams, deed restriction manager for the Valley Home Store, a division of the Eagle County Housing Department.
“We do want to save the deed restriction, but we have to be cognizant of our cash,” Franks said.
The unit is the only property in Miller Ranch currently that does not have a deed restriction attached to it.
“Certainly in Miller Ranch, we want to preserve that community as it was built,” Franks said. “It's definitely our priority to save the restrictions there.”
County Housing Director Jill Klosterman said the county has been able to save all of the other Miller Ranch properties that have gone into foreclosure. Franks thinks there have been about five other properties, all of which the county was able to sell before a foreclosure sale was necessary.
“Kim Williams keeps really good track of what's happening in Miller Ranch,” Franks said. “In the past she has almost always been able to convince the (homeowner) to sell before the foreclosure takes place.”
That's exactly what Williams said she tried to do with this particular Miller Ranch property, she said. The Home Store tried to sell it for about a year and a half before it went into foreclosure, she said. But the circumstances made it very difficult.
“Even if we had a buyer, we wouldn't have been able to sell it,” Williams said. “Really the only way to get the property out from this judgment lien was to let it go to foreclosure.”
The property is now owned by a bank in California, which Williams said doesn't exactly understand the local market. Williams calls the case an isolated example.
“We had always been able to work with homeowners on the front end and keep them out of foreclosure, but this was one that just couldn't be saved,” she said. “It was under contract at one time, then fell out of contract, and the county is still trying to purchase it.”
The isolated case, however, might not be so isolated as two more Miller Ranch properties have gone to foreclosure sales. The deed restrictions are still attached to those two properties, but if the county can't get the properties back, those deed restrictions might be lost, too. Williams said the deed restriction technically gets removed on the day of the sale, but the county's Housing and Development Authority has a 30-day option to buy properties back after a foreclosure sale, she said.
“We are working diligently to regain those properties and resell them,” Williams said.
The county's mission is to keep Miller Ranch affordable — to get the property and get it back on the market at a good price. The county's housing department is also available to help homeowners before it's too late — before they make too many decisions they can't back away from, Williams said.
“There are choices out there,” Williams said. “We can direct people to the right place to get help... Part of the problem is most people don't have that experience. We are a resource for that at the Valley Home Store. I think people wait too long (to ask for help).”
Community Editor Lauren Glendenning can be reached at 970-748-2983 or lglendenning@vaildaily.com.
It happened because the property went into foreclosure, and because of the outstanding debt the owner incurred on top of the original mortgage, it didn't make financial sense for the county to buy the property back at that time, said Tori Franks, an Eagle County housing program analyst.
The county's policy is absolutely to save and protect deed restrictions, but this Miller Ranch property was a unique situation, she said.
“The previous owner accumulated a large amount of debt that we would have had to pay,” she said. “We would have taken a big loss.”
The bank owns the property now, however, and the county does have an offer in to buy the property back and maintain its deed restriction, said Kim Williams, deed restriction manager for the Valley Home Store, a division of the Eagle County Housing Department.
“We do want to save the deed restriction, but we have to be cognizant of our cash,” Franks said.
The unit is the only property in Miller Ranch currently that does not have a deed restriction attached to it.
“Certainly in Miller Ranch, we want to preserve that community as it was built,” Franks said. “It's definitely our priority to save the restrictions there.”
County Housing Director Jill Klosterman said the county has been able to save all of the other Miller Ranch properties that have gone into foreclosure. Franks thinks there have been about five other properties, all of which the county was able to sell before a foreclosure sale was necessary.
“Kim Williams keeps really good track of what's happening in Miller Ranch,” Franks said. “In the past she has almost always been able to convince the (homeowner) to sell before the foreclosure takes place.”
That's exactly what Williams said she tried to do with this particular Miller Ranch property, she said. The Home Store tried to sell it for about a year and a half before it went into foreclosure, she said. But the circumstances made it very difficult.
“Even if we had a buyer, we wouldn't have been able to sell it,” Williams said. “Really the only way to get the property out from this judgment lien was to let it go to foreclosure.”
The property is now owned by a bank in California, which Williams said doesn't exactly understand the local market. Williams calls the case an isolated example.
“We had always been able to work with homeowners on the front end and keep them out of foreclosure, but this was one that just couldn't be saved,” she said. “It was under contract at one time, then fell out of contract, and the county is still trying to purchase it.”
The isolated case, however, might not be so isolated as two more Miller Ranch properties have gone to foreclosure sales. The deed restrictions are still attached to those two properties, but if the county can't get the properties back, those deed restrictions might be lost, too. Williams said the deed restriction technically gets removed on the day of the sale, but the county's Housing and Development Authority has a 30-day option to buy properties back after a foreclosure sale, she said.
“We are working diligently to regain those properties and resell them,” Williams said.
The county's mission is to keep Miller Ranch affordable — to get the property and get it back on the market at a good price. The county's housing department is also available to help homeowners before it's too late — before they make too many decisions they can't back away from, Williams said.
“There are choices out there,” Williams said. “We can direct people to the right place to get help... Part of the problem is most people don't have that experience. We are a resource for that at the Valley Home Store. I think people wait too long (to ask for help).”
Community Editor Lauren Glendenning can be reached at 970-748-2983 or lglendenning@vaildaily.com.
The Valley Home Store
The Valley Home Store is Eagle County's source of information for affordable homes and rentals. The staff is available to answer questions for prospective buyers and for current homeowners, including questions about how to avoid foreclosure. For more information, call 970-328-8776, or visit www.valleyhomestore.org.
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