PROVO — A bank and a title company have begun the foreclosure process on the Lehi home of David Ragsdale — where his two young children live with extended family.

But the children's legal representative, guardian ad litem William M. Jeffs, is trying to get an extension for loan payments so he can sell the home and give the money to the children, not the bank.

"(They're) foreclosing against a 4-year-old and a 2-year-old whose mother was killed and father is in jail and all I'm asking for is a little bit of extra time to sell the house," Jeffs said. "I'm willing to make partial payments in the interim. I'm not asking for any concessions on the loan, we'll pay the loan in full. All I'm asking for is a concession on time."

The house in the Hunter's Grove subdivision has been up for sale for months but no takers.

Ragsdale can no longer make payments on the home — he's been in the Utah County Jail since Jan. 6, when police say he fatally shot his wife, Kristy, in the parking lot of an LDS meetinghouse in Lehi.

Under the terms of the guardianship case of the children, both sides of the family have been pooling together to make some house payments, but they've fallen behind, Jeffs said. With the recent notice of default, Jeffs said they're now in a 90-day "cure" period.

"If we can sell (the home) during that 90 days and we pay them in full, they can't do anything to us," he said. "The problem is, in today's market, I'm not sure if I can sell it in the 90 days."

After the three-month window, the bank and title company can file what's called a "notice of sale" which means the bank will attempt to sell the home to recover their lost assets.

Jeffs said he has had a difficult time communicating with Wells Fargo.

"My goal, when I tried to contact Wells Fargo, was to basically say, 'I have the ability to make payments to you, or partial payments. All I'm asking for is additional time so we can sell the home.'"

Yet Jeffs said the bank has declined to speak with him without David Ragsdale's consent.

Such was impossible until recently, when Jeffs and Ragsdale and Ragsdale's attorneys settled a wrongful death suit pending between the two.

Without admitting any fault, Ragsdale agreed to deed over the house and let the default judgement of $1 million be entered, so his two young children can have his assets. Not that Ragsdale has $1 million, Jeffs said, but if any additional assets are found, they can unquestionably go to the children.

Now that the parties are working together amicably, Jeffs can approach the bank with Ragsdale's approval.

Calls to Wells Fargo's executive office Wednesday afternoon were not immediately returned.

However, it's very possible this unique situation will merit additional attention, said Tom Cook, foreclosure attorney with Lundberg & Associates, who represents the title company involved with the home loan.

"This one is way outside the routine," he said. "This is a very significant tragedy. The banks aren't immune to tragedy, they'll generally look at things beyond just sending it through the mill."

Cook said they haven't yet responded to his requests and Jeffs' requests, but he's still trying to find an actual person to speak to about the issue.

"Generally all of our communication with banks is electronic," he said. "(But) this is too much to try and explain in an e-mail. I assume that they'll take a look at this very carefully before they decide to gun it through the process."

Cook said even though state statute outlines a 90-day window for making payments, most banks are willing to take a payoff until the very end.

E-mail: sisraelsen@desnews.com