WARREN TOWNSHIP - A Warren couple is finding themselves in possession of a damaged house they believe they were forced out of three years ago during a foreclosure action.
Brian and Amanda Harvey say they had every intention of staying in their home at 3660 Woodside Drive but were forced to leave when they fell behind on their mortgage in 2008 after Brian Harvey was laid off from his job.
"A deputy sheriff came to the house and handed us a notice," Brian Harvey said. "It said, 'We give you 60 days to vacate the premise.''
Brian Harvey said he complied with the letter.
"I go back two days later, and the locks are changed," he said.
The Trumbull County Sheriff's Office says they never sent such a letter, and they never changed the locks. And now the holder of the mortgage, Vericrest Financial of Austin, Texas, also denies ever asking the Harveys to leave the home.
''If they didn't show up and say that we had to move, we would still be there,'' Brian Harvey said. "That is what we do not understand. Why were we forced to move when we could have been living there the entire time and making arrangements to pay off what we owe?"
A search of the Harveys' foreclosure case file at the Trumbull County Court of Common Pleas turned up no record of a notice-to-vacate, and the case file shows a sheriff's sale of the property was canceled in October 2009.
Deanna Williams of the sheriff's civil division, said no order to vacate would have been issued until the property was sold to a new owner. That sale obviously did not take place because the sheriff's sale was canceled by the mortgage holder, which in 2008 was Bank of New York Mellon.
"The homeowner cannot be forced to leave the property before it is sold at sheriff's sale," Williams said, insisting that the sheriff's office would not have delivered a notice to vacate.
Brian Harvey, however, insists the order was issued, but says he left the letter inside the home and he has not stepped foot inside since late 2008. The property was appraised for sale Aug. 10, 2009, and listed as vacant.
Regardless, Brian and Amanda Harvey still are listed as the owners of the property, according to the Trumbull County Auditor's Office.
That could be an issue for the Harvey couple. They did not even know that they were still the listed owners of the property until several months ago. The property's value was estimated at $24,000 during an objected appraisal. The Harveys owe more than $90,000 on the property, which they purchased in June 2007.
The Harveys' situation is exacerbated by the property's condition. The home is in severe disrepair, and has come to the attention of neighbors and the Trumbull County Health Department as a possible risk.
The foreclosure case file lists property maintenance among the duties of the homeowner.
''Even though there has been a foreclosure complaint filed against you, you are required to maintain the premise in good repair and free from housing code violations,'' a document in the case file said, noting that such duties would not be lifted until the property was sold.
Recently, Trumbull County Commissioner Frank Fuda entered the property following complaints from his neighbors. He said the condition of the structure was deplorable and there was several feet of water in the basement. A neighboring property's water well tested positive for the presence E. Coli bacteria last month. The health department would not confirm a connection between the property's condition and the pestilence-afflicted well.
A spokesman for Vericrest Financial said the Harveys would likely be responsible for repairs unless they could prove the sheriff's office or the mortgage holder (a bank also held the mortgage at one time) sent a letter forcing them off of the property.
Brian Harvey said he did not know if the letter he claims was sent is still in the house, and he believes several vagrants have used the house since he and Amanda vacated the property.
