Foreclosure sale of Frank White’s house called off for third time since 2016

The home of Jackson County Executive Frank White has been removed from a list of properties set for a foreclosure sale next month.

The Star reported last week that his house in Lee’s Summit was scheduled to be sold at auction on the courthouse steps on May 16.

But as has happened twice before since White replaced Mike Sanders as county executive in 2016, this sale was canceled. Typically, that means that whatever financial deficiency brought about the foreclosure sale has been satisfied.

White refuses to discuss his personal finances, which have drawn scrutiny since The Star reported in December on those previous foreclosure crises. The circumstances surrounding the first of those transactions is the subject of an ongoing investigation by Jackson County Prosecutor Jean Peters Baker. That probe was prompted by a Dec. 22 article posted on The Star’s website.

According to The Star’s sources, White’s mortgage deficit was erased in April 2016 with the help of a benefactor. Sanders’ then-law partner Ken McClain provided an unknown amount of money for the loan, according to one source with direct knowledge of the transaction. But the funds were funneled to White through a third party to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest, the source said.

McClain rents office space to Jackson County and has other dealings with the county.

White, Sanders and McClain have declined to comment on the meeting or any financial agreement regarding White’s house, which the county appraiser says has a market value of $289,739.

A second foreclosure sale set for the fall of 2016 was also averted, although the circumstances behind that transaction are not known.

This story was originally published April 26, 2018 at 12:43 PM with the headline "Foreclosure sale of Frank White’s house called off for third time since 2016."