Foreclosure Auction

The bargain hunters jockey gingerly for a spot to park their luxury sedans and SUVs along Brewster Drive, a winding road in the hills of Tarzana. It's a woodsy neighborhood of large homes behind wrought-iron gates, and more than two dozen shoppers are here to bid for a piece of it. Housing auctions are plentiful these days, including builders' closeouts that lure hundreds of bidders to hotel ballrooms and public sales of foreclosures on...

The number of foreclosures canceled by banks surged 62% across California last month, the same month major mortgage servicers were required to comply with new rules outlined by this year's National Mortgage Settlement. Banks in the Golden State canceled 15,539 scheduled auctions last month, according to a report by website ForeclosureRadar.com. That was a 36.7% drop from the same month last year. Sean O'Toole, founder of ForeclosureRadar, wrote in the October report that the increase was most likely due to the effective banning of dual tracking in the state.

Nicolas Cage is leaving Bel-Air. And not by choice. The fate of the sprawling Tudor mansion owned by the actor, who won an Oscar for his role in "Leaving Las Vegas," was decided Wednesday far from the baronial estate. It was up for auction Wednesday morning -- along with a handful of other foreclosed properties -- on the steps of the county courthouse in Pomona. After a rapid-fire spiel by the auctioneer, the bidding was opened at $10.4 million, far less than the $35 million that Cage had tried unsuccessfully to sell the house for. To put it mildly, the house, though impressive, was not to everyone's taste.

Banks in November scheduled more than 26,000 homes to be sold at California foreclosure auctions, a 63% increase from October and a sign that a surge in discounted, bank-owned properties is on track to hit the market next year. The uptick in scheduled auctions follows an increase last summer in homes entering the foreclosure process by receiving default notices and was largely driven by Bank of America. It appears that many of those homes are now quickly working their way through the process, said Daren Blomquist, a spokesman for RealtyTrac of Irvine, a data tracker that published the November data.

Several times a week, a group of investors gathers in Norwalk to bid on homes that have been foreclosed. The midmorning auction outside the Los Angeles County Superior Court building is a high-stakes, but usually low-key affair. On Friday, bidders sat in the sun in lawn chairs, and the auctioneer looked relaxed in a pair of baggy sweat pants. But just as the auction was getting started, a commotion erupted from across the lawn. It was a group of protesters, marching with posters and howling an angry chant.

Two All-Star Games and two World Series were decided in the time it took former pro baseball player Lenny Dykstra to lose his trophy home in Thousand Oaks to foreclosure. But it was game over for the onetime star center fielder Wednesday when a bid of $760,712 and change took the Sherwood Country Club estate on the steps of the Ventura County Courthouse. In addition to the amount of the winning bid, buyer Index Investors is on the hook for about $12 million owed to first lender JPMorgan Chase & Co. plus missed payments and taxes.

For the past year, Dennis and Carol Anderson had been eyeing a property in Idyllwild, thinking it would make a great retirement home. On Sunday, the Cypress couple was ready to make an offer. The three-bedroom, 3,000-square-foot mountain house, which was on the market for about $700,000 a year ago, was being sold at a foreclosure auction. The starting bid: $235,000. "I'm a nervous wreck," said Dennis Anderson, 62, as he waited for the property to be called. As the housing market continues to slump and mortgage defaults mount, public auctions of foreclosed properties are luring buyers with the promise of bargains.

Commercial Center Bank of Santa Ana purchased Fisherman's Village on Shelter Island in San Diego for $4.4 million at a foreclosure auction Tuesday after no other bids were submitted. The bank, which was the primary lender to former owner Mark Battaglia, forced the auction after initiating foreclosure proceedings. The complex includes retail, office and restaurant space as well as a commercial fishing marina. A bank spokesman said it was premature to discuss the bank's plans for the property.

The number of foreclosures canceled by banks surged 62% across California last month, the same month major mortgage servicers were required to comply with new rules outlined by this year's National Mortgage Settlement. Banks in the Golden State canceled 15,539 scheduled auctions last month, according to a report by website ForeclosureRadar.com. That was a 36.7% drop from the same month last year. Sean O'Toole, founder of ForeclosureRadar, wrote in the October report that the increase was most likely due to the effective banning of dual tracking in the state.

Late last year, on a weekend afternoon, I spotted the husky teenager next door packing boxes in the garage. I've known the kid, James, since he was 4. He was best friends with my son, Jesse. They were inseparable -- "Jesse James" is what I used to call them. When the two of them weren't having a sleepover at our house, they'd be camped out next door, where our little guy developed a taste for home-style Filipino cooking. In fact, our entire families seemed woven together. For years, James' two older sisters had tag-teamed as our baby-sitters.

Several times a week, a group of investors gathers in Norwalk to bid on homes that have been foreclosed. The midmorning auction outside the Los Angeles County Superior Court building is a high-stakes, but usually low-key affair. On Friday, bidders sat in the sun in lawn chairs, and the auctioneer looked relaxed in a pair of baggy sweat pants. But just as the auction was getting started, a commotion erupted from across the lawn. It was a group of protesters, marching with posters and howling an angry chant.

After successful residencies in the New York area in December and January, Prince is setting up an extended stay in L.A. — and attempting to upstage Coachella (April 15-17) in the process. The singer dialed into "Lopez Tonight" on Thursday to announce he would be kicking off a 21-night run, beginning at the Forum and continuing on at venues to be announced later. The L.A. residency will kick off April 14 with backing band the New Power Generation and "a whole gang of special guests," Prince teased.

Two All-Star Games and two World Series were decided in the time it took former pro baseball player Lenny Dykstra to lose his trophy home in Thousand Oaks to foreclosure. But it was game over for the onetime star center fielder Wednesday when a bid of $760,712 and change took the Sherwood Country Club estate on the steps of the Ventura County Courthouse. In addition to the amount of the winning bid, buyer Index Investors is on the hook for about $12 million owed to first lender JPMorgan Chase & Co. plus missed payments and taxes.

The auctioneer's voice rang out above the murmured conversations with a staccato, "Going, going, sold!" A whack of his gavel signaled the sale of somebody's foreclosed house to a new owner, and the next round of speed-talking began. Concerns about botched paperwork that caused some major lenders to recently halt foreclosures in progress didn't dampen the enthusiasm of buyers gathered Sunday in a drab meeting room at the Ontario Convention Center to bid on bank-owned properties.

Nicolas Cage is leaving Bel-Air. And not by choice. The fate of the sprawling Tudor mansion owned by the actor, who won an Oscar for his role in "Leaving Las Vegas," was decided Wednesday far from the baronial estate. It was up for auction Wednesday morning -- along with a handful of other foreclosed properties -- on the steps of the county courthouse in Pomona. After a rapid-fire spiel by the auctioneer, the bidding was opened at $10.4 million, far less than the $35 million that Cage had tried unsuccessfully to sell the house for. To put it mildly, the house, though impressive, was not to everyone's taste.

The bargain hunters jockey gingerly for a spot to park their luxury sedans and SUVs along Brewster Drive, a winding road in the hills of Tarzana. It's a woodsy neighborhood of large homes behind wrought-iron gates, and more than two dozen shoppers are here to bid for a piece of it. Housing auctions are plentiful these days, including builders' closeouts that lure hundreds of bidders to hotel ballrooms and public sales of foreclosures on...

After successful residencies in the New York area in December and January, Prince is setting up an extended stay in L.A. — and attempting to upstage Coachella (April 15-17) in the process. The singer dialed into "Lopez Tonight" on Thursday to announce he would be kicking off a 21-night run, beginning at the Forum and continuing on at venues to be announced later. The L.A. residency will kick off April 14 with backing band the New Power Generation and "a whole gang of special guests," Prince teased.

Chula Vista Mayor Greg Cox received a $2.2-million real estate loan from Home Federal Savings & Loan Assn. in August, 1985, and later cast votes for two multimillion-dollar development projects by the San Diego lender without disclosing the loan. Cox, who needed the $2.2 million to avoid default on a 123-unit apartment complex he and 10 other investors owned in Austin, Tex., did not list the loan on his annual financial disclosure forms for the past two years.

Late last year, on a weekend afternoon, I spotted the husky teenager next door packing boxes in the garage. I've known the kid, James, since he was 4. He was best friends with my son, Jesse. They were inseparable -- "Jesse James" is what I used to call them. When the two of them weren't having a sleepover at our house, they'd be camped out next door, where our little guy developed a taste for home-style Filipino cooking. In fact, our entire families seemed woven together. For years, James' two older sisters had tag-teamed as our baby-sitters.

For the past year, Dennis and Carol Anderson had been eyeing a property in Idyllwild, thinking it would make a great retirement home. On Sunday, the Cypress couple was ready to make an offer. The three-bedroom, 3,000-square-foot mountain house, which was on the market for about $700,000 a year ago, was being sold at a foreclosure auction. The starting bid: $235,000. "I'm a nervous wreck," said Dennis Anderson, 62, as he waited for the property to be called. As the housing market continues to slump and mortgage defaults mount, public auctions of foreclosed properties are luring buyers with the promise of bargains.