Less than a week after submitting a notice it was foreclosing on the Bostwick Building, the city filed paperwork to speed up the process.
The order filed Tuesday afternoon means the defendants Guaranty Trust Investments Inc., must show why a final judgment of foreclosure should not be granted.
The company consists of members of the Bostwick family. The lawsuit was served Monday to the attorney representing them.
With the speed-up motion filed, the court can set a hearing date 45 days after the initial complaint was served, which will be Jan. 16.
If the owners don't appear or if the court finds they don't have a valid defense to the foreclosure action, the judge could enter a judgment at that scheduled hearing.
The owners also could sell it before that date. If not, the court could order the building and land be sold at a public auction.
The owners owe the city more than $60,000 in fines, which have accumulated in increments of $100 per day because of code compliance issues
If sold or auctioned, the city would receive its owed fines, with the owners taking whatever remains. If the building is not sold, the city would take it over.
Guaranty Trust Investments has owned the building at 101 E. Bay St. since 1996, though it has been owned by the Bostwick family since 1902.
The matter has been before the city's special magistrate for municipal code compliance four times because of a lack of making structural repairs to stop continued deterioration.
City Council voted Nov. 26 to designate the building a historic structure and not allow the owners to demolish it, putting an end to months of delays while the owners sought to strike a deal to sell the building.
They received several offers but a deal could never be reached.
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