Community Center Lost to Foreclosure: the Brycc House (now moved)
The Brycc House Community Center was acquired as a mortgage purchase from a local bank nearly 7 years ago… give or take a year. After 10 years of paperwork and legal submission, the facts and figures become oppressive to recall precisely. There were long and arduous struggles to address inherent structural compromise of the property which often lead to inspection/review/revision of methods and professional services. Plumbing, roofing, and HVAC issues stayed at the top of the list year in and year out as payments were made and insurance was paid…. Sadly, payments were often late and nearly $2500 in late fees continued to hang over our heads.
The bank was exceptionally lenient with late payments up to 45 days until it became apparent that other issues were in play. In the last 2 years of our mortgage, we got our payments to fit within 30 day turn-around times, and the bank was continuing to be cooperative – save for the constant reminder of the late fees. Ultimately, we went into foreclosure when a member of the board was not in regular communication with our insurance agent and let our insurance payment slip. When the other members of the board found out about this we did our best to remedy the situation. The actual insurance writers had no problem starting back up while the agency itself told us that it wanted all $4000 up front to renew the policy. Ultimately a late insurance payment turned into a call for payments in full on the remainder of the insurance, which triggered notification of the bank who started foreclosure.
The bank let us know unless we could come up with a minimum of $12,000 as a security for missed or late mortgages (including the payment of all late fees) then the property would be lost. In effect, it put forward the notion that it was willing to try to find a way to give us time to remedy the conditions of extreme financial duress in a building which was not affordable up to the very sale date by the Commissioner. Sadly we decided to not dispute the Catch-22 scenarios that landed us with a nearly impossible set of tasks which were beyond our scope of renovation and attention. So… the Brycc House has moved down the street and resides as a rental now at 825 South Floyd Street. The site was not really the first choice of location for current members but providing service in Old Louisville from our new location can continue to be a part of our vision. We prefer to be proactive instead of fighting beyond our means in a struggle between commercial and governmental authorities.
Come visit us on Sundays at 3pm when we discuss how other folks can learn more and join the process of Occupying Economics affordably and sustainably. www.brycchouse.com
Have you been foreclosed upon? Are you fighting a foreclosure? Click here to contribute your story (will open in a new window) or call (502) 437-9513 to contribute your story by phone.
