Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Condemned house's owner saves it again

Days before an auction, he settles with the mortgage holder, ending attempts to sell the property.

By RODNEY THRASH
Published February 6, 2005

TAMPA PALMS - The city has condemned it.

It even ordered the home demolished.

Still, 5302 Witham Court sits there on a 7,455-square-foot lot in Canterbury Village, unfinished, uninhabitable and full of debris.

It was supposed to be sold Friday in an auction.

But Scott Burdge, a Northdale developer who owns the house, has invested $500,000 into the property since he purchased it nearly a decade ago in 1996. He wasn't going to stand and let some stranger bid for what was his.

He had to do something. And do something he did, said Jorge Martin, Tampa's assistant attorney. Days before the auction, Burdge, through his attorney, reached a settlement with Republic Bank, the mortgage holder.

Burdge's attorney, David Steen, could not be reached for comment.

But Martin said he learned Monday of the settlement, which suspended any attempts to sell the property.

"The mortgage will be discharged, meaning there won't be a mortgage lien on this property," Martin said last week.

This isn't the first time this has happened.

In September 2003, the home was supposed to be auctioned. Burdge missed a property tax payment to the holder of his $274,000 mortgage on the property. Republic Bank of Michigan declared the balance of the mortgage due and foreclosed.

Just before that auction, Burdge paid $8,000 of the bill, and the bank gave him a pass.

This time, there was a $145,000 foreclosure judgment against the house. Martin said terms of the settlement were not disclosed so he does not know whether Burdge paid the full amount.

Now, "Republic Bank is out of the picture," Martin said.

Clemens Hrouda, who lives on Witham Court, said he planned to file a motion with the Hillsborough Circuit Court asking to move forward with demolishing the property.

Information from Times files was included in this report. Rodney Thrash can be reached at 813 269-5313 or rthrash@sptimes.com

[Last modified February 5, 2005, 09:49:05]