slumlord auction

More of slumlord's properties up for auction
By MICHAEL BUETTNER, STAFF WRITER
Publication: The Progress - Index (Petersburg, Virginia)
Date: Sunday, February 21 2010

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PETERSBURG -- The unraveling of convicted slumlord Oliver C. Lawrence's real estate empire is set to continue on Tuesday with foreclosure auctions in Petersburg and Richmond of several more of his former rental properties.

Motley's Auction Group is scheduled to sell three Petersburg properties owned by Lawrence's Bayou Properties LLC in a public auction at 10 a.m. on Feb. 23 at 1150 W. Normandale Ave., off County Drive (U.S. 460) in the Edgewood subdivision.

The 1,296-square-foot, 3 bedroom, 1 1/2 bath rancher at that address is one of the three city homes to be sold. The others are 47 Monument Ave. in East Petersburg (924 square feet, 3 bedrooms, 1 bath) and 1024 W. Wythe St. (936 square feet, 3 bedrooms, 1 1/2 baths).

Back taxes are owed on all three homes to the city of Petersburg, according to city spokeswoman Joanne Williams: $4,395 on 1024 W. Wythe St., $1,239 on 47 Monument Ave. and $2,293 on 1150 W. Normandale Ave.

Tim Dudley, vice president in the real estate division of Motley's Auction Group, said any sales of the houses will include payment of back taxes. "When we do a foreclosure sale, we are able to wipe out the back debt," he said. "We're able to give a free and clear title" to the property.

Williams agreed that the city will be able to collect the unpaid taxes on any of the properties that change hands, "so we're hoping they sell."

In Richmond, Motley's will hold an auction the same day at 1 p.m. at 3116 Woodrow Ave. of four houses, at least two of which are Bayou Properties holdings. Also at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Motley's will be auctioning one Henrico County home owned by Bayou, 3313 Yerger Road.

At one time, Bayou Properties owned 24 homes in Petersburg. Ten were sold at foreclosure auctions in December and January, according to Petersburg Circuit Court records.

Bayou also owned at least one property in Chesterfield County, in the 21500 block of Pannil Street in Ettrick. That house was sold in December to a company owned by Matoaca real estate manager R.L. Dunn III.

Lawrence and his Ashland-based companies Bayou Properties LLC and Rainy Day LLC made headlines last year when a Richmond judge sentenced him to 30 days in jail plus 40 days' home incarceration in a small, single-story house owned by his company. He was also ordered to pay more than $177,000 in fines after he was convicted of more than 180 property-maintenance violations.

Lawrence's own Ashland-area home sits on 25 acres and has a current assessed value of $1.1 million, according to Hanover County property tax records.

The State Corporation Commission cancelled the corporate registrations of Bayou Properties and Rainy Day as of Dec. 31, 2009, for nonpayment of annual fees. Another company owned by Lawrence, Standard Auto Sales Inc., which operates a used car lot on Chamberlayne Avenue in Richmond, is listed by the SCC as "not in good standing" for failure to file an annual report.

- Michael Buettner may be reached at 722-5155 or mbuettner@progress-index.com

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