Diann Bishop built her dream home. But now the real estate and cosmetology entrepreneur is fighting to keep it from foreclosure.
Diann Bishop built her dream home. But now the real estate and cosmetology entrepreneur is fighting to keep it from foreclosure.
Her own home is one of six she built in Bronzeville under Re.N.U. LLC, a real estate development company she is principal manager of. Cole Taylor bank financed the project – called McQueen Quarters, which consists of new construction homes occupying an entire block at Oakwood and Drexel Boulevards.
In 2004, Bishop said her relationship with the lender was good, which allowed her company to receive an initial $2.5 million line of credit. The credit was further extended until it reached $4.1 million. The loan accumulated $539,204.96 in interest, according to Bishop.
She used the money to build the homes, including the one she lives in with her son.
Bishop, who also owns D’Jons of Chicago Barber Salon, 1514 S. Wabash Ave., sold the first home, at 827 E. Oakwood Blvd., for $1.4 million in 2007.
In March 2008, the home at 815 E. Oakwood Blvd., sold for $865,000.
“When I sold that first home, that really caught the attention of Cole Taylor Bank,” Bishop told the Defender.
As the housing market went into a tailspin, Bishop had a tough sell with the remaining properties.
“But after that, the housing market fell and it was an uphill battle from there,” she said. She got behind on loan payments.
In April 2008, Cole Taylor filed for foreclosure against the project, which had three homes still unsold and the one Bishop lived in.
Finally, though, Bishop was able to sell the three homes and paid down her loan.
In October 2008, the home at 833 E. Oakwood Blvd sold for $650,000. The next month, the home at 811 E. Oakwood Blvd sold for $700,000. Then on March 13, 2009, the home at 821 E. Oakwood Blvd sold (unfinished) for $500,000.
The only home remaining was the one Bishop occupies at 801 E. Oakwood Blvd. It was designed specifically to accommodate her son who is confined to a wheelchair due to complications from multiple sclerosis.
Unfortunately, though, the project remains in foreclosure, and Bishop’s home is tied to the gone-bad loan. She thought she was putting forth a good faith effort, offering the bank more than half of the loan balance as a settlement, to avoid losing her home.
She had already paid back millions of dollars, and only a fraction of the original amount owed was still outstanding.
Bishop offered the lender $500,000 to settle a $600,000 debt. The bank would not accept it.
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