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Resident says city claimed $10,390 from foreclosure proceeds; city attorney cites title-company review
Summary
Montel Hobbs told commissioners the city withheld roughly $10,390 from proceeds when his former property sold in a 2016 foreclosure auction; the city attorney said a title-company review found the mortgage remained in effect and the city would follow up with Hobbs's counsel.
Montel Hobbs used the public comment period to press the city for answers after he said the city took $10,390 from proceeds of a 2016 foreclosure sale of 815 Pickens Avenue. Hobbs said the loan originally totalled about $3,500 and should have been extinguished by the county foreclosure sale; he said he sold the house in April and then discovered the larger claim.
"I had sold a house in April, and I think $10,300 was claimed by the city," Hobbs told the commission. He said he had contacted the county treasurer and was told liens should have been extinguished, and that he had been unable to get consistent callbacks from city staff.
City Attorney Seneca responded during the meeting that the title company had reviewed public records at the attorney's request and concluded the mortgage had not been properly extinguished because required notice had not been sent by the county. "They determined that the proper process hadn't happened and that the mortgage was still in place," Seneca said. She told Hobbs she would contact his attorney, Beth McCree, with an update.
Seneca also noted that when a party is represented by counsel the attorney is ethically limited in direct communications and that the manager's office has been used to coordinate responses. The commission said the legal offices would continue to work with Hobbs and his counsel to resolve outstanding questions; no final administrative relief or refund was announced at the meeting.
