Poplawski house up for sheriff's sale
The home where three Pittsburgh police officers died in an ambush is set for sheriff's sale to the highest bidder next month.
Margaret C. Poplawski, mother of alleged cop-killer Richard Poplawski, owes $59,657 on the Fairfield Street house in Stanton Heights, according to a complaint lender JPMorgan Chase Bank filed with the Allegheny County Sheriff's Office. The auction is scheduled for 9 a.m. Jan. 3 in the County Courthouse, Downtown.
"I don't know necessarily that that kind of stigma is going to affect a sale, especially if the price is right," said Libby Sosinski, a foreclosure specialist at Keller Williams Realty in Mt. Lebanon. "Let me tell you, every house has a right price out there and there's always someone who will buy."
Richard Poplawski, 24, is awaiting trial on charges he killed Officers Eric G. Kelly, Stephen J. Mayhle and Paul J. Sciullo II when they responded to his mother's 911 call about a domestic dispute April 4, 2009.
The home became a point of controversy since then. JPMorgan spent months pursuing foreclosure. City officials failed at an attempt to condemn the house. Margaret Poplawski hasn't fought the bank, but sued the county in June, blaming a 911 dispatcher's error for the ensuing shootout and home damage.
Her son and police fired hundreds of bullets during a nearly four-hour standoff. The lawsuit claims investigators further damaged the house by removing sections of its interior, and digging up concrete and her yard. A dispatcher did not tell responding officers that Margaret Poplawski said her son had guns.
County lawyers denied her claims in a court response. They argued state law gives the county immunity against such lawsuits.
Margaret Poplawski and her lawyer did not respond to requests for comment. Officials at JPMorgan confirmed only the auction date, citing homeowner privacy rules.
Poplawski bought the two-bedroom ranch in 1999 for $64,500, records show. Assessors put its value at $71,700. The bank lists the property at $54,973, Sosinski said.
Selling the home below market price can encourage skittish buyers, even for the most stigmatized homes, she said. Often, a creepy story draws more interest.
George Sodini killed three women, himself and injured nine others during a shooting spree in the Collier LA Fitness center last year, and the Scott home where he plotted his killings sold in two days, Sosinski said. It went on the market for about $100,000, about $40,000 less than it is worth, she said.
"They didn't even try to hide the fact that it was his property," Sosinski said.
