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May 24, 2007
Alleged Underground Railroad Home in Brooklyn On Market for $4.5 Million
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle
The plot thickens in Brooklyn's other land grab, as someone puts Joy Chatel's home on the market:
Chatel doesn’t own the home she’s been living in for over a decade, which would make it difficult for her to fight an eminent domain ruling. She signed the deed over to her mother in 2004, and her mother, Arnelda Monroe, gave outside investor Errol Bartholomew 50 percent ownership of the property the following year to stave off foreclosure proceedings, according to city records and a source close to the issue.
...
Chatel said last week that her attorney, Angelyn Johnson, listed the property without asking, and suggested that Bartholomew was involved.The attorney said Chatel and her mother both wanted to sell the Duffield Street property, adding that Chatel suggested the asking price be set at $3.9 million.
“The mother wants it sold,” said Johnson. “At this point they’ll do anything because they’re kind of in a pickle.” Johnson said the home could be in foreclosure again.
Chatel responded, “I never told [Johnson] anything about my house.”
Johnson, who maintains a law practice on Court Street, was charged in February by the Queens District Attorney’s Office as part of a six-person deed fraud ring, and is still under investigation for other frauds she may have committed, according to the office.
And Everett Samuel, who handles Bartholomew’s business affairs regarding this property, said she had nothing to do with it being put on the market.
Beverly Branche, the real estate agent, confirmed that Johnson gave her permission to put the property on the market. Branche said there’s been a lot of interest in the property, but wouldn’t say if an offer had been made.
Posted by lumi at May 24, 2007 9:50 PM