Connecticut judicial officials are preparing to pressure The Courant into providing lower rates for foreclosure advertisements or face the loss of more than $1 million a year in advertising revenue.
Hartford County Superior Court Judge Julia Aurigemma said in a telephone interview today that she believes that The Courant’s minimum of $1,431 for two Sunday foreclosure ads is too high, considering that the Middletown Press charges only $158.
The cost of advertising foreclosure auction ads is borne by the victims who have lost their homes if there is any equity left after auction and legal expenses. If not, then it’s the banks that must pay for the advertising.
Judge Aurigemma’s comments follow a column I wrote Wednesday disclosing that The Courant charges as much as $2,600 for two Sunday foreclosure ads, when it charges only $189 to others for a Sunday and a Friday ad as well as seven days of advertising on its Internet site.
She said the $189 ad “will be Exhibit A” when the judicial department discusses the issue with The Courant. Judge Aurigemma is in charge of foreclosures in Hartford County.
Because of the high cost of advertising, the judge said, the judicial department last November launched a website that contains much more complete information about each foreclosure, permitting for smaller newspaper ads, and a reduction in costs. But more has to be done, she said.
If The Courant does not provide a better deal, she said, the judicial department could simply buy one ad directing readers to its website, instead of the 32 ads that ran last Sunday.
Other possibilities include switching the foreclosure ads to other newspapers, including weeklies that circulate in every home. Weekly newspapers in the Farmington Valley would charge about $80 for a foreclosure ad.
A previous attempt about 10 years ago to cut foreclosure ad prices in The Courant failed, according to lawyer Michael R. Peck.
Peck said members of the Hartford Country Bar Association discovered from a Courant advertising employee that the Courant had a lower rate structure for public notices than for foreclosures.
Peck said The Courant refused to give the 20 percent discount for foreclosures because it would have meant a loss of about $300,000 in yearly revenues. He also said that the Courant employee who disclosed the pricing policy was removed from his job.
