Palmetto Bay councilman narrowly avoids foreclosure auction in last-minute order
A judge has delayed the foreclosure auction of Palmetto Bay Councilman Stephen Cody’s home, according to an order signed 13 hours before the Monday morning sale was supposed to begin.
The order, filed at 7:55 p.m. Sunday night, shows the judge had granted the bank’s motion to cancel the sale and to reschedule it.
The online docket now shows a new sale date has been set for Nov. 15, 2022.
According to a 2018 complaint from his lender, the Bank of New York Mellon Trust Company, Cody and his now-deceased wife, Rita, stopped making payments on the mortgage for the five-bedroom home in May 2013. Cody, who is representing himself through the process, said last week that he didn’t have plans to move and was confident the judge would sign a motion to delay the sale.
The bank filed a motion on Nov. 1 to cancel the sale. The sale was previously set to begin at 9 a.m. Monday.
Cody argues the current lender does not have the original promissory note, so he therefore does not have to pay the mortgage. The lender has changed several times since Cody and his wife bought the house in 1993.
There have been multiple foreclosure cases opened against him in the past, records show, but the house never went to auction.
Cody, who was elected in 2020 to serve the Seat 2 residential area on the five-member council, said he does not plan to move or pay the mortgage. According to court records, Cody owes the bank a total of $302,062.65
“I am working on getting it resolved. I am not going anywhere,” he said. “The ground is littered with the bones of people who underestimated me ... I am still standing.”
This story was originally published November 15, 2021 at 2:42 PM.