by Maryclaire Dale
PHILADELPHIA (AP)—A bank has foreclosed on a $615,000 condominium owned by the head of the Philadelphia Housing Authority, who earned $350,000 last year leading the nation’s fourth-largest public-housing agency.
Carl R. Greene, PHA’s executive director, bought the three-bedroom, 2,100-square-foot condo in the upscale Naval Square development in 2007. He put down $215,000 in cash and took out a $400,000 mortgage, city records show.
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| LOCKED IN DISPUTE WITH WELLS FARGO—In this Feb. 29, 2008 photo, Philadelphia Housing Authority Director Carl Greene poses in front of a housing development in Philadelphia. |
Greene, 53, stopped making payments on or around April 1, and three months later owed more than $7,500 in missed payments and late fees, according to the bank’s July 27 lawsuit.
A spokesman denied that Greene has any financial problems, and said he is instead locked in a dispute with the mortgage company. Spokesman Kirk Dorn said he did not know the nature of the dispute, though he acknowledged the public’s interest in the case.
“We all understand the irony of the situation,” Dorn said. “We’re very concerned about the appearance of the head of a large housing organization not paying his mortgage. But until the matter is resolved, Mr. Greene is simply not willing to air this dispute,” he said.
Because of the missed payments, Wells Fargo is demanding that Greene pay in full the $386,685 outstanding on the mortgage.
Greene himself did not immediately return a call for comment left at the housing agency. He is scheduled to appear in court Sept. 16 to take part in the city’s foreclosure-prevention program, court records show.
No lawyer is listed for him in the case file. The lawyer listed for Wells Fargo did not immediately return a message.
Greene took over at PHA in 1998, after previously working as executive director of the Detroit Housing Commission, and also working for housing authorities in Atlanta and Washington, D.C.
Greene, who is unmarried and has no dependents, earned a base salary of $306,370 plus a $41,188 bonus last year, Dorn confirmed.
The condominium appears to be the first property he has owned in Philadelphia, according to city real estate records.
The Philadelphia Inquirer first reported on the foreclosure proceedings.
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