Municipal officials want house sold online demolished

Penn Hills officials hope to see a house sold on eBay demolished.

Mark Bartholomaei, a Sewickley attorney, purchased the house at 5319 Verona Road for $18,000 at a sheriff's sale in March and sold the property on eBay for $22,100 in April.

Since then, the municipality filed three charges against Bartholomaei for not obtaining an occupancy permit, having a structure unfit for occupation and owning a building without providing safeguards from fire.

Municipal officials learned about the house being sold on eBay when the Florida couple who bought the property visited the code enforcement office to express their concerns about the house's condition. Robert Hunter, code enforcement director, would not release the names of the buyers to protect their privacy.

Though Bartholomaei says he has a sales agreement with the couple, county property records still list him as the owner. The Florida couple has the deed and needs to file it with the county to finalize their ownership, he said.

"I sent them a picture of the house before they bought it," Bartholomaei said. "I am trying to work out the issues with them. It boils down to the husband bid on the house without the wife knowing and he hadn't looked at the house before bidding."

Bartholomaei, who chose eBay for its broad reach, admits the house is not in great shape. He was hoping to make a profit on the sheriff's sale after friends did the same with another property. The house went up for sheriff sale because the previous owners, Charles and Joanne Abbott, owed more than $22,000 in delinquent taxes to the municipality, school district and county.

If the property is cleared, the Florida couple could make a profit by selling the land, Bartholomaei said.

The Florida couple were not the only bidders for the property. Ten other people from Pennsylvania and New Jersey were outbid for the property.

Bartholomaei believes the couple and a few others didn't check out the house before bidding. He said two months passed before the winning couple visited the house. The couple could have paid a local contractor $50 to check out the house before placing the bid on eBay, Bartholomaei said.

Fifty bids were offered for the property. The Florida couple outbid the next person by $100, said Bartholomaei, who did not have a reserve price for the auction.

"You pay for what you get," he said. "You have to take into consideration what you're bidding on."

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