An open house was held Tuesday at Rachel Durham's residence in Chesterfield County, only she didn't hold it.
Nor would Durham, who rents the house, have known about the open house or pending auction sale if it weren't for a foreclosure sign placed in her yard.
She awoke to the sign Dec. 14. The auction is Jan. 4. Prospective buyers had a chance to check out the house Tuesday.
"I received no notification prior to this sign being posted in my front yard," Durham said. "This sign is huge … and it's embarrassing. People don't know if I rent this house or own it."
Foreclosures are disruptive not only for borrowers who can't afford to make their payments, but also to neighborhoods that see housing values fall and to others like Durham who pay as well.
"I have no clue what is going to happen," Durham said.
"As a renter, there is no particular protection for her," said Irene Leech, president of the Virginia Citizens Consumer Council. "It's expensive to move and it's a lot of work."
Many foreclosure sales are bought as investments and it's possible that Durham may not need to do anything, except pay rent to the new owner, said Tim Dudley, vice president of the real estate division for Motley's Auction & Realty Group, which will auction of the house.
"She needs to continue to pay the rent until she is notified of the new owner," he said.
If new owners want to occupy houses that are rented, they must give renters 90-day notices, Dudley said.
Durham has rented the house for the past two years. She said she has never missed her $1,200 rent payment but her landlord — a Richmond developer who filed for bankruptcy — hasn't paid the mortgage.
She said the only communication she has received, other than the sign, was a certified letter that arrived Dec. 23 telling her that the Bank of Hampton Roads now owns the deed of trust.
The property was owned by Wilton Development Corp., which is headed by Henry L. "Hank" Wilton.
Wilton filed for personal bankruptcy in September, listing assets of $10 million to $50 million and liabilities of $50 million to $100 million. Neither he nor his attorney, Robert A. Canfield, could be reached for comment Tuesday.
His bankruptcy does not involve The Wilton Cos., a Henrico County-based real estate company.
"I'm paying for his (Wilton's) problems," Durham said. "I'm going to lose vacation time to deal with the move. There's a lot of out-of-pocket expense. I can't do anything until I get my security deposit back, and who knows if I will get it back?"
Her house, a vacant house next door and a contiguous 73-acre parcel of land are scheduled for the auction sale. The parcels will be offered separately or they can be sold as a package deal, according to Motley's.
Wilton Development had planned to develop the entire parcel into a residential community, said Clay Walden, residential appraisal supervisor for Chesterfield County. He said the county had not been notified about the change in ownership.
Entrenched in the community, Durham lives in the house with her two children, ages 10 and 16. She wants to keep them in the same schools. Her mother lives across the street to help with the children.
The decent thing would have been for someone to give her more notice, instead of springing the news on her, she said.
chazard@timesdispatch.com
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