By Courtney Hibler
The U.S. Bank National Association is seeking foreclosure of Flats at Wick, a NYO Property Group off-campus student apartment complex for Youngstown State University students. The foreclosure is a result of the developer, Dominic Marchionda, allegedly being behind on loan payments to the bank.
The foreclosure was filed as the result of an $5.2 million alleged default payment by Marchionda on a $5.5 million loan, which was issued in December 2012.
Flats at Wick was notified in April and September of 2018 that the loan had not been paid in accordance to the agreed terms and was extended to December 2018.
After another extension was granted until April 5, the loan had still not been paid and the property has been ordered to be sold.
According to an article by WKBN, the court filing stated the borrower “failed to deposit all rents into the restricted accounts, fund all required reserves and deposit excess cash as required by the loan agreement.”
Michael Pasternak, attorney for Marchionda, said he doesn’t agree with the lawsuit and the case is unjustified.
“Dominic takes care of his properties,” he said. “This is an unreasonable lawsuit, and I’ll do what I can to protect him because his position in this deserves to be heard.”
According to Pasternak, when something like this happens it’s because payments aren’t being made and nothing is being taken care of.
“For Flats at Wick, this isn’t the case at all,” he said. “Dominic has kept this housing complex in excellent condition, and he has always paid what has been owed.”
Flats at Wick is one of 67 projects by Marchionda that was cited last year.
Marchionda faces charges including falsification, theft, receiving stolen property, telecommunications fraud, record tampering, money laundering and engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity.
He has denied all allegations in the indictment as well as other allegations regarding him improperly securing money from Youngstown’s waste water & sanitation funds for personal use.
According to Dave Betras, an attorney with Betras, Kopp & Harshman, current tenants are usually not affected by a foreclosure.
Logan Mitchell, a sophomore psychology major, said she isn’t worried about the foreclosure since she will be moving back home.
“I don’t live far from here, and I don’t mind moving back home,” she said. “Although I’m worried for my friends who currently live here.”
In Mitchell’s opinion, the current living conditions at the complex could be better.
“Certain things just don’t get fixed in a timely manner, and the current construction makes it worse,” she said. “We already have limited parking on campus, and now we basically have none which makes it inconvenient.”
Mikenzie Ryan, a freshman anthropology major, said she isn’t sure what the foreclosure means for tenants.
“We weren’t really notified of the foreclosure,” she said. “There was a letter, but even that still left us confused because we don’t know what’s going to happen.”
In Ryan’s opinion, the situation could have been handled better to ease the minds of everyone involved.
The letter provided to tenants at Flats at Wick states to contact Marchionda directly with any questions or concerns.
The Jambar contacted Marchionda in attempt to speak with him about the allegations, but he could not be reached for comment.