A Real Fixer-Upper

Randy Durham figures he got a good bargain Wednesday when he agreed to pay $301,500 for a house in an upscale Huntington Beach neighborhood.

But the house he bought at a court-ordered auction is the notoriously blighted Huntington Harbour home of Cal State Long Beach professor Elena Zagustin, who still lives there and vows to continue fighting for her property.

The once rubbish-filled house with a hole in the roof had, at one point, violated 69 building, safety and health codes. The sale was aimed at satisfying nearly $300,000 in judgments that neighbors had obtained against Zagustin, mainly for distress at being forced to live near such a filthy home.

Durham and his investment partners outbid three others at the brief auction, held in a room at the Orange County Superior Court building in Westminster.

But Zagustin, 62, did not go quietly.

Zagustin, who neighbors said still lives in the house, made repeated trips to the courthouse Wednesday morning to try to postpone the auction. Toting a plastic bag filled with legal documents, she said she plans to continue pressing the matter. She took pictures of the auction crowd of about 50, mostly members of the media.

“They’re doing fraudulent sales,” she said after the auction. “I’m not giving up on what I’m doing.”

The single-story stucco house in a neighborhood of $400,000 to $500,000 homes looked suitable from the outside Wednesday, the only blight appearing to be weeds growing out of cracks in the driveway and sidewalk. No traces remained of the buckets of human waste that had accumulated in her yard when Huntington Beach officials inspected the house last November.

The city said in an April inspection that Zagustin still has to fix electrical panels and walls that were damaged by a leaky roof.

Durham, 41, of Chino Hills, is learning what he has gotten into.

“This has turned out to be a little more than the adventure we’d anticipated,” he said Wednesday.

Prior to the auction, he had not heard of Zagustin, whose story has attracted local and national attention, including segments on two network newsmagazine shows.

He bought the house after viewing only the exterior, but he said he’s “not intimidated” because of his 20 years’ experience in fixing homes. He also has to evict Zagustin, a process that could take at least 45 days.

“I’m going to talk to her and see if she’ll go quietly,” he said.

But Zagustin’s long-embattled neighbors, who were huddled together in the back of the courthouse room Wednesday, know only too well what could lie ahead.

“I’ve been waiting for this day 8 1/2 years,” said Dave Flynn, who is first in line to collect a $60,000 judgment against Zagustin. “I’m half happy and half cautious.”

Already, neighbors are making plans for a party, while their lawyers are poised to file for an injunction to stop Zagustin from wandering around the neighborhood. The lawyers also are ready to collect on any amount due that is not covered by the sale of her Huntington Harbour home.

The auction stems from more than 50 civil cases that were consolidated into two separate sets of litigation.

Raymond Goulette, a neighbor involved in both sets of cases, said he’s just relieved. He figures his property value should appreciate after Zagustin moves out.

“It’s been a long time coming,” said Goulette, who moved into his home 24 years ago.

Lawyers for neighbors said they plan to collect on all the judgments, which may mean seeking foreclosures on Zagustin’s five other properties, all residential units.

“We’re going to collect it all,” attorney Tom McCurnin said.

Lawyers said the case shows that residents can do something about bad neighbors.

“We need to appreciate that if there’s a bad apple, you can throw them out now,” said James Walker of Santa Ana, who has been providing advice to Zagustin’s neighbors.

The neighbors said they also look forward to the day when they can work on a fence without being sprayed with Mace or let their children walk past the Zagustin house without subjecting them to a gnat-infested environment.

“I just want her out of here,” insisted Goulette, who said he was the one she sprayed with Mace. “No one could be a worse neighbor.”

Besides the civil cases, Zagustin has been convicted twice of violating numerous building, safety and health codes by failing to rectify conditions in and around her house.

After her conviction last November, Zagustin was ordered to perform 30 days of community service as part of a three-year probation term. The city also was given the right to periodically inspect her home.

She recently pleaded no contest to one count from a 1996 case and faces sentencing Aug. 3.

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Court Sells Blighted Home

A court-ordered sale Wednesday of a Huntington Harbour home satisfies $300,000 in judgments that neighbors had obtained against homeowner Elena Zagustin.

Sources: Attorney Brian Simon; Huntington Beach Planning Department

Graphics reporting by BRADY MacDONALD / Los Angeles Times