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More trouble for landlord: Bank files another foreclosure suit
By JEFF TESTERMAN, Times Staff Writer
A bank has filed a $9.62-million foreclosure suit against Green's Amberwood Realty, owner of the 212-unit Amberwood Apartments. According to court records, Green's company isn't making its $73,422 monthly payments on a $9.04-million loan Green signed for just a year ago. After describing conditions at Amberwood as "deplorable," the county padlocked the complex in April, displacing about 150 renters. When Green's company failed to make repairs, code enforcement fines of $5,000 a day were imposed. By Friday, those unpaid fines totaled $727,250. Wells Fargo Bank Minnesota, which took over the Amberwood mortgage from First Union National Bank, says in its foreclosure suit that Amberwood Realty started missing mortgage payments in May. The bank is demanding $8.98-million in principal and $641,387 in interest, and it is asking a judge to order the apartments sold to satisfy the debt. Could Amberwood fetch a price high enough to pay Wells Fargo's mortgage, the code enforcement fines and liens filed by several contractors? It seems unlikely. The Hillsborough County property appraiser puts the fair market value of Amberwood at $5.96-million. Wells Fargo has told the county that it will bid for the property and that it intends to bring Amberwood, which is west of Interstate 75 and near 124th Avenue, up to code. But the foreclosure action makes the chance of the county's collecting its fines remote. "The bank has told us that if they get the property, they will get it into compliance and hope to return it to affordable housing," said Assistant County Attorney Margaret T. Courtney. "That's what the county would like to see. The apartments are just deteriorating right now and doing no one any good." Green is a Yonkers businessman who made a fortune in real estate in New York but also racked up $2.3-million in housing fines. In Tampa, he acquired a dozen apartment complexes as well as a $1.78-million Hyde Park mansion. The county's shutdown of Amberwood Apartments signaled a reversal of fortune for Green in Tampa. On May 13, Wells Fargo sent a letter to Green notifying him of the missed May payment and a $7,828 late charge. A month later, an attorney for the bank sent Green a second letter notifying him of the default on the mortgage. In July, Green wrote to Hillsborough's director of community improvements, Don Shea, to offer a status report on Amberwood. Green said a $700,000 insurance claim had been paid on a building damaged by fire and that permits had been issued for renovation. But Green blamed the bank for the delay in beginning repairs. "The lender at Amberwood ... has failed to commit to any plan, short or long term," Green wrote. "Given these facts, I am clearly not in control of the property at this time." The Amberwood suit is not the only foreclosure Green and his companies face: In October, Wells Fargo filed a foreclosure suit against Green's Woodland Pond Realty, owner of the Club at Woodland Pond Apartments. The bank claims that Green's company defaulted on a $6.36-million loan by transferring the property and obtaining a second mortgage without the bank's consent. SunTrust Banks has initiated a foreclosure action on Green's 8,157-square-foot mansion at 801 S Delaware Ave. The bank says Green missed monthly payments of $3,789. Glenn Goldberg, the Clearwater attorney for Green, did not return a call from the St. Petersburg Times Friday. -- Jeff Testerman can be reached at 226-3422 or by e-mail at testerman@sptimes.com .
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
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