Schaumburg man’s uninhabitable home auctioned
The home of a Schaumburg man who’s spent the warmer months in recent years living in a car parked in its driveway because officials declared the residence a health hazard has been sold at auction.
Right Residential, a Hoffman Estates-based real estate company, bought the foreclosed home of John Wuerffel just before Christmas for $35,000, officials confirmed Tuesday.
The firm plans to gut the home, on the 1400 block of Hampton Lane, and renovate it to bring it back to an estimated $175,000 value that is more typical for the neighborhood, Executive Vice President Christopher Shaxted said.
“It’s a nice neighborhood in a good school district,” he said.
Shaxted’s understanding is that some of Wuerffel’s belongings are still in the house. The company hopes to get in touch with Wuerffel and assist him in relocating as many of the items as he wants.
Wuerffel could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
The village of Schaumburg won a court order in the fall of 2010 to clean up the inside and outside of the house, which they charged had become a health hazard for the neighborhood.
The house and garage were filled floor-to-ceiling with items Wuerffel claimed he planned to sell to recyclers, including metal cans, full cardboard boxes, about 30 automobile tires, an old Jaguar, a motorcycle, two bicycles, two handguns, two rifles and two shotguns. Wuerffel’s plight received significant media attention in the Chicago area.
While this is not the only foreclosure Schaumburg is dealing with, it’s been more labor-intensive for the village staff.
“This is above and beyond because of the hoarding situation,” Community Development Director Julie Fitzgerald said.
Though she couldn’t speak for Wuerffel’s neighbors, the village believes the entire neighborhood will benefit from the planned renovation, she said.
“It is an attractive nuisance,” Fitzgerald said of the home. “The village is encouraged, but as with any foreclosure, our heart goes out to the homeowner who is losing (his) home.”
Wuerffel has spent the colder months of the year in homeless shelters or sleeping elsewhere in his car while turning the heater on and off. But when the shelters are closed, he typically has returned to his house and lived in the driveway.
Though foreclosure was pending for a long time, Wuerffel legally owned the home until very recently. But he could not live inside because the village had declared it unfit for human habitation due to extensive damage to its electrical system and plumbing.
Shaxted said his company plans to start renovation as soon as the final legal steps are taken and he hopes to be able to help Wuerffel to the extent possible.
Though the company has taken on the task of rehabbing many foreclosed homes — some in similarly bad condition — Shaxted admitted this case is different because of the homeowner living in front of the residence.