Taking a loss Ex-Schenectady official’s home in foreclosure Van Norden blames divorce, health problems By Haley Viccaro June 18, 2015
SCHENECTADY — The home of former city Corporation Counsel L. John Van Norden has been foreclosed on because he walked away from the house and stopped paying the mortgage.
Van Norden, 53, left as the city’s top attorney in December 2011 and took a job in Hartford, Connecticut, as deputy corporation counsel shortly after. He now lives in Key West, Florida, providing historic train tours.
Van Norden and his previous wife, Dory Van Norden, owe $251,193 in principal and accrued interest on their home at 10 Corlaer Ave., according to documents submitted in state Supreme Court in Schenectady County.
“We stopped paying the mortgage because no one has lived in the house,” he said. “We tried to sell it and rent it. They started the foreclosure when I was in Connecticut.”
Van Norden said he couldn’t afford to pay the mortgage because he was going through a divorce with Dory at the time and was recovering after medical leave while corporation counsel.
“We just couldn’t sell it and offered it to the bank a couple of times,” he said. “We got the divorce done before the house was settled.”
He said the house was assessed at about $170,000, but the highest offer he ever received was $120,000. He said it was “underwater” because of the city’s decreasing home values and increasing property taxes.
“That was how Schenectady was at the time,” he said. “Is it the same now?”
Van Norden purchased the home in August 2005 for $170,000, according to county property records. He said it’s a beautiful home he put a lot of money into in improvements.
“It has three fireplaces and marble and hardwood floors,” he said. “The last time I drove by was in April, and mail was building up in the front stoop and the gate looked open in the backyard.”
Van Norden served as corporation counsel under former Mayor Brian U. Stratton. Stratton stepped down as mayor in April 2011 to head the state Canal Corp. and then-City Council President Gary McCarthy became mayor. Van Norden earned $96,445 a year as corporation counsel.
The home is now owned by Fannie Mae. Real estate agent A-1 Reo Services of Schenectady is responsible for management of the property.
The single-family home in the Woodlawn neighborhood is in decent shape, despite overgrown grass and a couple broken windows. No trespassing and foreclosure signs could be seen on the front door and window from Corlaer Avenue.
"I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked, dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix,"
he walked away from the house and stopped paying the mortgage.
To me that's the key line in the story. It's something that some of us here have been saying. Even a well educated lawyer figured it out. Doesn't really matter the reasons in my mind. If it gets to the point you can't sell or rent walk away.
There are a couple of folks who post here who have either taken a loss or just walked away. I have tons of respect for them.
"I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked, dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix,"
To me that's the key line in the story. It's something that some of us here have been saying. Even a well educated lawyer figured it out. Doesn't really matter the reasons in my mind. If it gets to the point you can't sell or rent walk away.
There are a couple of folks who post here who have either taken a loss or just walked away. I have tons of respect for them.
I don't....I know it was probably the smartest thing to do..for them... but we ALL pay for it in increased fees and interest rates. The banks WILL recoup their loss, one way or another.
"Arguing with liberals is like playing chess with a pigeon; no matter how good I am at chess, the pigeon is just going to knock out the pieces, crap on the board, and strut around like it is victorious." - Author Unknown
To me that's the key line in the story. It's something that some of us here have been saying. Even a well educated lawyer figured it out. Doesn't really matter the reasons in my mind. If it gets to the point you can't sell or rent walk away.
There are a couple of folks who post here who have either taken a loss or just walked away. I have tons of respect for them.
I as well! Why anyone would hang on to a 'dead horse' that keeps losing money is beyond my comprehension???
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
To me that's the key line in the story. It's something that some of us here have been saying. Even a well educated lawyer figured it out. Doesn't really matter the reasons in my mind. If it gets to the point you can't sell or rent walk away.
There are a couple of folks who post here who have either taken a loss or just walked away. I have tons of respect for them.
The guy made just shy of $100,000 per year working in Schenectady. He was paid $130,000 in his job in Hartford, CT
And moving to that part of Florida where houses are half million dollars
With that kind of money, he can afford to walk away.
For people in Schenectady, which the vast majority have total household income of less than $40,000 per year, do YOU have the money to give them to cover their losses?
Optimists close their eyes and pretend problems are non existent. Better to have open eyes, see the truths, acknowledge the negatives, and speak up for the people rather than the politicos and their rich cronies.
The guy made just shy of $100,000 per year working in Schenectady. He was paid $130,000 in his job in Hartford, CT
And moving to that part of Florida where houses are half million dollars
With that kind of money, he can afford to walk away.
For people in Schenectady, which the vast majority have total household income of less than $40,000 per year, do YOU have the money to give them to cover their losses?
Well look what crawled out from their rock to enter into some real debate. I'm really not interested in anything you have to offer though. Not until you leave your cozy Rotterdam mansion and move to Schenectady will I believe you have anything other than a self-serving, character assassin motive in posting here. So take your faux concern have another martini and head back to your pool.
"I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked, dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix,"
Probably was a nice home, unfortunately the City of Schenectady mailing address knocks the sh*t out of it.
"He said the house was assessed at about $170,000, but the highest offer he ever received was $120,000. He said it was “underwater” because of the city’s decreasing home values and increasing property taxes.
“That was how Schenectady was at the time,” he said. “Is it the same now?”
Of course it is, providing you talk to anyone not connected to the Mayor.
He could have taken the $120,000. What was he doing with his money between 2005 when he bought the place, and 2011? This guy had the nerve to argue AGAINST rp in court? It may have been his job to represent the city, but it is NO lawyer's job to lie and argue something he knows not to be true. No wonder he isn't working as a lawyer any more. Isn't this the same guy who defamed that minority business owner who just wanted a decent price for his property, which the city was taking to build a million dollar poverty palace in the Vale neighborhood? Is it the "heart attack scare" dude? The one who smeared the Pizza King and tried to run him out of business?
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