Buyers' Revenge: Trash the House After Foreclosure

[Scott Kibler]

Destruction is illegal and they can go to jail if the lender want to spend money, time and man power to find them otherwise what they can do with a homeless? Does it do any good to put a homeless in the jail? They are just crazy. They were crazy when they bought a home that they shouldn't bought and they are crazy now when they are destroying the property. Here is wht the article says:

Is it illegal to destroy your own property? Bank don't own it till they own it. Wanton destruction of the collateral may be against the terms of the mortgage but that's civil, not criminal.

 

[moh malekpour]

Is it illegal to destroy your own property? Bank don't own it till they own it. Wanton destruction of the collateral may be against the terms of the mortgage but that's civil, not criminal.

They usually don't destroy it when they get a notice of default. They even don't destroy it when they get the notice of trustee's sale because they still hope to stay there. They destroy it when they get a notice of eviction. At that time, the foreclosure procedure has passed its legal course and they know that they don't own the home anymore. That is when the revenge destruction happended. Plus, it is very easy to convict them on the revenge destruction. No one destroys his own property unless that person is mentally ill. I don't know about the severity of the law but the court can ask them to pay for the damage or go to jail if they don't have money, other property or job. There has to be some penalty for that action. They just don't let them to walk away.

 

[Scott Kibler]

They usually don't destroy it when they get a notice of default. They even don't destroy it when they get the notice of trustee's sale because they still hope to stay there. They destroy it when they get a notice of eviction.

Really? Prove it.

Difficult to determine the timing, yes? Expensive too.

By the way, I go into lots and lots of distressed properties after notice of default prior to judical sale. Many are damaged in this manner with applicances removed.

 

[moh malekpour]

Really? Prove it.

Difficult to determine the timing, yes? Expensive too.

By the way, I go into lots and lots of distressed properties after notice of default prior to judical sale. Many are damaged in this manner with applicances removed.

So , are you saying that they are excused if they destroy the home after they received the notice of default? removing or stealing an appliance like free stand stove or a dishwasher without damaging the structure is different from breaking the toilet seat, breaking the kitchen counter, breaking the cabinet doors, putting big holes on the walls with big object or breaking all windows and doors, tearing off carpet or throwing paint on walls or carpet. I even saw that they tore off the roof shingles and throw them on the back yard. They closed down the sink drainage and left the water running to fload the kitchen and whole house intentially. These are criminal acts and can be proved and procecuted that are as the result of revenge.
When the get the notice of default, they still have 3 more months to live in the house and whe they get the notice of trustee’s sale after that period, they have another 2-3 months before they get the notice of eviction. For all these times, they want to live in the home and need the toilet, the kitchen counter and windows. Why should destroy them if they still living there? They destroy them after they get evicted and know that it is the time to get out. The revenge destruction only takes few minutes.

 

[DesertDiva]

Lotsa luck getting law enforcement interested in prosecuting criminally.

And what sense would it make for the lender to waste $ filing a civil suit against people who couldn't pay their mortgages? If they got a judgement how exactly would they go about collecting it?

Simple business sense means they cut their losses any way they can & the best way is to get a CFK agreement accepted. If it does get trashed, they bid out the work, get it listed & sold & write the loss off to the best extent possible.

It would be ridiculous to waste time & $$ chasing the borrower's around to try to squeeze a few bucks out of them.

 

[Scott Kibler]

So , are you saying that they are excused if they destroy the home after they received the notice of default?

No Moh, just trying to explain to you why these people aren't being chased by the police or the lenders. Cost.

 

[Lloyd Bonafide]

Pretty extreme case of trashing a house:

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20080517-9999-1n17default.html

Recently, an MHS repairman found out just how angry displaced homeowners can be. He couldn't find a house he was sent to work on in Yucaipa, even with the aid of a GPS navigation system. Finally, he realized he was in the right place, but the house was no longer there.

“He called and said, 'I know I am in front of the right house, but somebody has knocked it down,' ” Kerr said. “Someone took a skip loader and knocked the house down. It was in a big pile.”

When he reported the incident, Kerr expected bank representatives to be upset, but “it wasn't like they even raised an eyebrow.”

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

No one destroys his own property unless that person is mentally ill

I guess I have appraised just about all the mentally ill around then.

Lotsa luck getting law enforcement interested

Really. "It's a civil matter." must be the most overused statement our police make.

trying to explain to you why these people aren't being chased by the police

They couldn't pay for the house. They can't pay for the damage if they wanted to.

 

[Michigan CG]

In the search for out new house here in Michigan we found the trashing of homes is not a socio-economic thing, everyone is doing it. We looked at many upper middle class homes and most had some sort of intentional damage. This included the removal of carpeting, multiple holes in the walls, stolen light fixtures and interior doors. One house, three years old, they poured motor oil on the new carpet.

If these lenders had done the cash for keys thing they would have sold these house for $10-30K more.

The house with motor oil on the floors also had cabinet doors ripped off, holes in walls and light fixtures stolen. The owners owed $240,000 on the house. It sold for $171,000. The cost of ownership of that house for the lender over the 12 month period plus the marketing and Realtor fees and they lost nearly $90,000.

 

[wickedness1]

One thing that I've noticed around here is that once the lenders have these houses back, alot of times they don't leave on electric. So things like sump pumps don't work, flooding & causing mold issues.

IMO, I don't think most of these HO's have mental illness', I think they are depressed & stressed. The cash for keys programs might take the stress off of these people trying to find new housing.