Sale of Messy House Delayed for a Month

The end of a long-running neighborhood dispute over the condition of a Huntington Beach home has been delayed--again.

The planned marshal’s sale Thursday of Cal State Long Beach professor Elena Zagustin’s house was postponed for a month after officials discovered a technical error in the advertising of the sale, said Marshal’s Lt. Gary G. Tackett.

The problem was an error in the property’s legal description. Tackett said officials considered going ahead with the sale anyway but, given the 15 years of nuisance complaints and legal wranglings about the property, opted to postpone the sale and repost the notice.

“We decided to keep it clean,” Tackett said.

The sale was forced by neighbors who, long frustrated with what they consider unhealthful conditions at the home, won a series of Small Claims Court judgments against Zagustin totaling $315,000.

Thursday’s sale, with a minimum bid of $270,000, was to have satisfied the first $50,000 worth of liens.

Neighbors have maintained that they don’t want the money, just a new neighbor. The sale date was tentatively rescheduled for July 14.