Hours before the city was scheduled to determine the fate of a dilapidated home on Southwest Fourth Place in the Sailboat Bend neighborhood, commissioners learned of a new twist in the case: Its owner had filed for bankruptcy.

Now the city must wait until an automatic stay provision is lifted before it can rule on whether to demolition the home, which has sat untouched for months. Commissioners have deferred the issue several times since March, when the city’s Unsafe Structures Board first filed a demolition request

According to city documents, one of the property’s owners — Donna Jordan — filed a petition for Chapter 13 bankruptcy in federal court on June 23, prompting City Attorney Harry Stewart to recommend the commission defer the issue indefinitely.

The house at 716 Southwest Fourth Place in Sailboat Bend, owned by Donna and Charles Jordan, has been sitting atop concrete blocks since it was moved to Sailboat Bend in December 2005.

Charles Jordan had said he planned to add a three-car garage, a pool, and a second story to the home if commissioners voted not to demolish it.

“The city is interfering with a construction job,” Jordan said in March.

Some neighbors aren’t happy having a dilapidated home on their block.

“The problem is the house is sitting on an expensive piece of riverfront property,” said Charles Gillis, who lives across the street in a house fronted by a landscaped lawn and an iron fence. “Anybody who buys the property likely won’t want to be stuck with those little rooms and concrete walls. It will be hard to find someone who loves the architecture and has enough money to restore it.”

Juilian Seigel, who lives in a split-level home at the western end of Southwest Fourth Place, said he would like to see the old place restored.

“Demolition won’t do anything but grow more weeds,” he said. “It’s not hurting property values. Foreclosures and variable interest rates are doing that.”