Trash the House After Foreclosure

[jeffrey]

The stucco subdivisions of Las Vegas are caught up in the nation's foreclosure crisis. These days, bankers and mortgage companies often find that by the time they get the keys back, embittered homeowners have stripped out appliances, punched holes in walls, dumped paint on carpets and, as a parting gift, locked their pets inside to wreak further havoc. Real-estate agents estimate that about half of foreclosed properties to be sold by mortgage companies nationwide have "substantial" damage, according to a new survey by Campbell Communications, a marketing and research firm based in Washington, D.C.

Buyers' Revenge: Trash the House After Foreclosure - WSJ.com

[LuxLiving]

Unthinkable!!!

People must feel so betrayed by their lenders to be doing such things. Sometimes life truly can suck and you find yourself in an awful hole! I'd only try to go out w/some kind of dignity.

I wonder though, how many of these displaced people will hear about that wiki article on squatting and consider doing it?

[simpleyme]

i bet for the most part the houses were trashed and dirty way before forclosure

[cptacek]

My parents rented a house one time that before they got there, the person kept a bear in the closet. Yes, a real bear cub. It was not a good house to have to clean up. But they did. They cleaned it up with lots of clorox, new carpet, new paint, lots and lots of elbow grease. By the time we moved in, it was pretty nice.

Dad did some work for the landlord and never got paid for it. It ended up the landlord owed us $10,000 and wouldn't pay. So, they got a court order saying he had to pay. He did. And then kicked us out.

Mom and Dad and us kids cleaned that house from top to bottom before we moved. It was spotless when we moved out. But the guy bad mouthed us around town saying it was unlivable after we left because we had too many kids in the house. What?!? And you let someone live there with a BEAR?

Anyway, I think it is hugely inappropriate to trash a house because you can't pay your mortgage. Have some pride. Keep your dignity about you, even if you do have to move.

[JBinKC]

Heck I wouldn't be surprised if they gutted the plumbing , take the copper and if the house was older you could resell the house interior in pieces to a reseller of original vintage architectual construction products like a parted car.

There is a larger population in the US than many realize that is living on the fringe and are one paycheck or a medical problem away from total disaster.

Things today are much different than the household of Ward and June Cleaver.

[simpleyme]

its not the same as I am talking a rental, but I took all the original fixtures out of my Victorian house and replaced them with cheap fakes
the originals are in my attic of my house I live in

the first renter we had stole all my fake replacements so I charged her for them just the amount to replace them with plainer fakes that have not been stolen

I sorta thought it was funny that they think they got away with something

my insurance agent is the one who had told me about people would steal the real stuff as they had the most beautiful glass door knobs in there office building but they said all the ones upstairs in there renal were gone as a renter stole them

we will reinstall the originals when we sell someday

[FrugalFish]

I recall this being a very serious issue during the last round of foreclosure madness here too (CA ~1990). It was very common for people to totally trash houses at the point of foreclosure. Some were probably not cared for before, but many were damaged afterwards- it really makes you wonder about the nature of people. I remember hearing a story of someone buying a house out of foreclosure to find that the plumbing had been heavily clogged with concrete and it was a very expensive ordeal to repair. It boggles the mind why people think they are somehow gaining something by destroying the property- does it really make them feel better?