Virginia Homeowner's F'closure Challenge Leaves Public Auction Buyer Out $310K With Ongoing Tax Bills, In 2-Year Tug-Of-War For Possession Of Premises

In Richmond, Virginia, the Richmond Times Dispatch reports:

• The foreclosure mess rocking the nation is playing out in Richmond.



• On one side is a father-and-son team who bought a house in Windsor Farms as an investment at a foreclosure auction nearly two years ago but can't take possession of the house.



• On the other is the couple who owned the house — and claim they still do, alleging that the foreclosure process was improper and should be voided.



• Now, the case is tied up in the courts. [...] Judge Walter W. Stout of Richmond Circuit Court said Monday that the case has become a quagmire because of questions relating to title and possession.

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• Similar cases are likely to pop up, as foreclosures continue to mount nationwide and lenders and attorneys general in all 50 states review foreclosure procedures for possible improprieties.

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• The Watsons paid $310,200 for the house at a foreclosure auction on the steps of the John Marshall Courts Building in July 2009. Their name was recorded a couple of weeks later on the deed of trust. They have paid property taxes of nearly $15,000 since then, said their attorney, William K. Grogan.



• But it's not clear who owns the house. The Nicholsons have not paid any mortgage or rent for at least 30 months, Grogan said in court filings. But the Nicholsons allege that the foreclosure process on their home was bogus, according to court records. [...] The couple has posted more than $19,000 in bonds, the Nicholsons' attorney said. "He is not a freeloader," Henry W. McLaughlin, one of two attorneys representing the Nicholsons, said at a recent court hearing.

For more, see Windsor Farms foreclosure case a quagmire.