The neighbors are raiding the foreclosures on my street

[TwixVoy]

A month ago there were no foreclosures on my street. Today there are 3.

I frequently go out for walks/jogging, and I have noticed multiple people in the neighborhood going in through the backyard gate to check out what's inside the houses. Of course the bank has put up a sign regarding trespassing, but apparently no one cares.

Never realized there were so many vultures in my neighborhood before...

[villager]

1. well, one way to look at it -- are they stealing from people, or taking from banks?

If houses are already foreclosed, and the former owners booted out...

Oh wait! Our benighted Supremes have told us that banks are people...!

[Ozymanithrax]

4. Stealing is Stealing, it is unethical, immoral, and wrong.

Doesn't matter who the victim is.

If it happened in my neighborhood, I would call the police.

[villager]

8. I hope you've been calling the police on the banks then...

n/t

[KittyWampus]

11. at the very least, residents should band together and insist banks be forced to keep up the houses

[villager]

13. that's a great idea! Of course, "unauthorized upkeep" would be viewed as "trespassing"

.. which then yield some "tsk-tsking..."

[KittyWampus]

18. one possibility is called "land banking". See my post below.

[Ozymanithrax]

34. I agree to this. If they own the property they should be required to take care of it...

with the same diligence as is expected of human owners.

[Xithras]

37. "Taking care" is a relative term.

Sevveral communities in my area have passed ordinances requiring banks to maintain the homes. The banks have responded in a way that few are happy with. They typically now send out a crew to cut out any bushes, shut off water to the property, mow the yard extremely short, and shoot the whole thing with Round Up. All of the grass and weeds on the property die within days. Round Up is then reapplied every month or two until the house sells.

From a legal perspective, the house is "kept up". According to the letter of the law, since the yards aren't growing out of control and weeds aren't popping up, they're "maintained".

It's still ugly as heck.

[Ozymanithrax]

33. If I see one robbing a house in my neighborhood, I will.

We are talking about people who enter property that is not theirs and take objects or destroy property. That is wrong and illegal. Forclousre are legal, though not necessarily ethical or moral. Outright theft and destrution of property is not legal. To try to make it OK because a bank is the owner is denying that the rule of law has any validity without our culture.

[Better Believe It]

29. Not when its done by the rich. That's called free enterprise.

[Ozymanithrax]

35. No, it isn't free enterprise when the knowingly go on another persons property...

and steal items or destroy property that doesn't belong to them. Most homeowners (myself included) are, at best, joint owners of the property. They borrowed from banks, Savings in Loans, or other financial institutions in order to purchase the property. Under law, those institutions retain rights that, should the living partner fail to pay their bills for any reason, the institution can claim. Foreclosures are traumatic events that are not made better by malicious criminal neighbors or negligent banks.

[Better Believe It]

43. And who is the person that owns that property? Does he/she have a name?

When farmers and city residents resisted and refused to leave their homes when the banks foreclosed on them during the Great Depression, do you think they should have been arrested and prosecuted?

Whose side would you have been on?

The banksters?

or

The small farmers and working people?

There is no middle ground in such conflicts.

[liberal N proud]

2. A vandalized property hurts the neighborhood

I don't understand peoples need to take others property. Just because the Jones' moved-out doesn't give everyone the right to pilfer what they left.

[MineralMan]

3. We live next to a foreclosed property. Once, I saw someone trying

to get into the house. I called the police. They were arrested for burglary. It turned out that they had been doing this all over town, cutting out and taking the copper pipe in the home.

I want the house to be sold and the new owner to move in. I do not want a derelict house next door to mine. Perhaps you'll understand that.

[Liberal_in_LA]

26. +1

[KittyWampus]

5. you say that as if vultures are undesirable. PBS has a program about "ugly" creatures

Vultures were featured. They help clean up the mess left from dead things and thus prevent disease. They also begin the process of decomposition by ripping into the dead bogy.

That is why their kind naturally selected for no feathers around necks/head. Ripping into carcasses.

Eventually, there will be outfits coming in a stealing the copper pipes if there are any.

[Statistical]

15. Depsite your national geographic sidetrip you do realize this is a bad thing.

Neighbors tearing up the home only decreased value and likelihood of resale.

You might think they are sticking it to the banks but the declining values bring down whole neighborhood.

Plus "broken window" syndrome sets in. Kids see the damaged home, go in there trash it, scrappers come by and tear out everything of value.

Pretty soon nobody wants the house and resale values in neighborhood are plummeting. Who wants to live next door to a condemned building?

In a normal environment the city would step in and demolish it but they are strapped for cash so there is year long backlog for services like that.

While the banks lose some the working joes in the neighborhood lose far more.

So in this instance yes Vulures are a bad thing.

[KittyWampus]

21. Read the other multiple posts I've contributed to this thread. I happen to care about this issue

Vultures and vandals are part of nature.

Here is a third link to go with the two I posted below:

http://www.lincolninst.edu/pubs/1057_Vacant-and-Abandoned-Property

[Kittycat]

6. I'm assuming you called the police, then - right?

[maxsolomon]

7. maybe they're just rubbernecking. humans are curious.

i snoop around construction sites, look in the windows of listed houses, and visit open houses in my neighborhood all the time.

when my 93 year old neighbor died, his estranged kids came, took what they wanted from the house, sold it to a developer, & left town. before it was demolished, i went over and rescued gardening equiptment, plants, and photo albums from his 2nd marriage. the developer never cleared the house before pulling it down and scraping the yard clean.

basically, his memory lives on because i trespassed. i'm glad i snooped.

[virgogal]

12. I found your post sad. Some of his life was left behind to be tossed

into a dumpster.

I too am glad you snooped.

[maxsolomon]

19. exactly.

i edited the albums down to 1 big envelope of pictures, but i felt it preserved his memory. i bet i know more about the 2nd half of his life than his kids do. i have a photo of his childhood home in minnesota from about 1915.

and the Hugh Memorial 5' steel pry bar is one hell of a tool.

[FSogol]

9. I broke into a foreclosed property once. It was to throw a gallon of bleach

into a abandoned swimming pool in the backyard which had about 2 feet of stagnant mosquito-breeding water in it. Foreclosed homes can destroy a neighborhood. You should call the bank and have them beef up the locks around the property.

[KittyWampus]

10. Some towns are passing laws forbidding the abandonment of property and fining banks

that leave places untended. For just such reasons as you mention.

[KharmaTrain]

16. That Happened Not Far From Here...

The banks decided to bulldoze the houses and leave empty lots. The houses had been vandalized or neglected and there were several units that weren't completed. The bank said it was cheaper to knock 'em down and rebuild than to maintain the current property. The neighbors have been trying to fight this as vacant lots sure don't help with one's property value or demand a reassement of the entire area to lower property taxes based on all the tear downs. Then there's also the problems of rats and other critters that still creep around the rubble. The residents have tried to stop the bank but the courts have ruled in favor of the banks to do with the properties whatever they choose.

[KittyWampus]

17. Here's one article- Victory: Illinois legislature passes important vacant property legislation

Victory: Illinois legislature passes important vacant property legislation, but more must be done
By Dan Klaff, Staff Attorney at Business and Professional People for the Public Interest
http://www.regionalhopi.org/content/support-solutions-vacant-property-problem


The Vacant and Abandoned Properties Problem

As a result of the foreclosure crisis, the number of vacant and abandoned properties in the Chicago region has dramatically increased. These properties destabilize neighborhoods—they depress the value of neighboring homes, weaken the tax base and breed crime. Unfortunately, local governments have limited powers to return these properties to productive use and put them back on the tax rolls. The RHOPI Action Plan includes identifying best practices and developing legislation to address these problems. BPI reviewed programs from around the country and, working in collaboration with municipal officials from around the region, the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus and the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, developed state legislation to help municipalities tackle the vacant property challenge.

Municipalities Propose a Solution

In early 2009, BPI and its municipal partners finalized legislation that was introduced in the state legislature by Representative Karen Yarbrough and Senator Jacqueline Collins. The legislation has three main parts: notice, land banking, and property maintenance.

1. Notice. The legislation would give municipalities an early warning system to find troubled buildings by providing municipalities with notice when a foreclosure action is initiated, when the action is completed, and when a tax sale occurs. This will help municipalities to target problem buildings and take action before problems develop and get out of control.

2. Land Banking. The legislation would help municipalities gain control of vacant and abandoned properties and get them back on the tax rolls by giving them the power to create land banks. Land banks can acquire property, make sure it is well maintained, and then, when the time is right, sell it. They can also act as property managers and landlords, so if a rental building is foreclosed, the land bank can allow the occupants to stay in their homes and collect the rent until a new owner can be found. Land banks have been used very effectively around the country to handle property at a time when there is no private market interest, and that lack of interest can destabilize neighborhoods and fuel the downward spiral of neighborhood decline.

3. Property Maintenance. The legislation would give municipalities more authority to secure and maintain troubled buildings and to recover the costs of providing those essential services. Municipalities would be authorized to pass laws setting rules for maintaining vacant and abandoned properties. When building are abandoned, those rules could be applied to mortgage holders, like banks or trustees of mortgage-backed securities. If a mortgage holder didn’t maintain the property as required, the municipality could do the work. Municipalities can already put liens on the property for doing this work. However, as it stands, municipal liens are almost never paid off in foreclosure sales. Mortgages get paid off first, and after the mortgage gets paid off, there is rarely enough money to pay the city or village for the costs it incurred and the services it provided. This problem is worse now more than ever as more home values fall below the debt owed on their mortgages. This bill would make municipal liens superior to all other liens imposed later, except tax liens, which means that in a foreclosure, the municipality would get paid for stabilizing neighborhoods before banks got paid for bad loans.


The Compromise in Springfield

Following negotiations with representatives of the financial industry, several important components of the proposed legislation passed the Illinois General Assembly this fall as part of Senate Bill 1894. From the elements in the original bill, SB 1894 includes notice of foreclosure initiation and completion. It also gives priority to certain municipal liens if a municipality tried but failed to contact the owner of a vacant building and then had work done to maintain or secure the property.

Several critical components of the original legislation are not included in SB 1894. It does not provide authority for municipalities to create vacant property ordinances or to hold financial institutions responsible for property maintenance and security before they own the building. It also does not include legislation that authorizes municipalities to create land banks.

What you can do to help?

If you would like to help pass these additional components of the original legislation and get local governments the tools they need to deal with vacant and abandoned properties, please contact Dan Klaff or Adam Gross at BPI. They are working to get these additional tools passed in the 2010 legislative session beginning in January.

[KharmaTrain]

24. Here's The Rub...It's An Unfunded Mandate...

Many of the hardest hit areas have been in trouble for a while...not just with the crumbling real estate foreclosures but with a shrinking retail as well as when people move, so do businesses and visa versa. Butting the burden on the municipalities to maintain the properties are taxing them beyond what many can afford...especially if there's structural problems. They can sue the banks and then wait til hell freezes over until they get a final ruling and eventual restitution.

The sad part is that people are powerless to fight for their homes or their neighborhoods. With so many foreclosed properties the banks are unable to keep up with them all and see more profit in foreclosing than in trying to keep people in those houses.

Land banks are a good idea, but with the state in major financial troubles, the money isn't there.

Cheers...

[KittyWampus]

31. Where have I heard the term "unfunded mandate" before... Oh, that's right-

Education. :(

[KittyWampus]

20. Another Article (Florida Sun Sentinel)Banks balk at caring for abandoned homes

Banks balk at caring for abandoned homes
Proposal would block local laws that require foreclosure upkeep

April 23, 2009|By Jason Garcia Orlando Sentinel and Sun Sentinel Staff Writers Paul Owers, Andy Reid, Susannah Bryan and Erika Pesantes contributed to this report.
TALLAHASSEE — With tens of thousands of homes across Florida left abandoned, government officials from Miami to Orlando have responded by sending crews out to mow lawns, clean pools and do other basic work and then billing the banks to pay once they take possession of the property.

The state's banking industry wants to put a stop to the practice.

Banking lobbyists have quietly crafted a measure in the Florida Legislature that would prevent cities and counties from forcing the banks that hold mortgages on properties in foreclosure to maintain those properties until they have actually acquired the title to the land. That foreclosure process can take six months or more.

[Javaman]

23. The house right next door to me was foreclosed on...

went unlived in for about 1 1/2 years.

I would mow that lawn when I mowed mine.

It gave the appearence that someone was still living there.

It finally sold.

[Xithras]

39. I did the same thing when the house next door was foreclosed.

I and the neighbor on the other side split the work. We kept the grass watered, the bushes trimmed, and the house generally looking "lived in". When I called to ask the agent for permission to enter the property, she just had us sign a paper acknowledging that we weren't doing the work for compensation and that they weren't liable for any injuries we sustained. Once that was signed, she actually gave us keys to the gate. She was thrilled to have a well maintained forclosure to sell...they're apparently a bit rare. Still took more than a year for it to sell though.

[galileoreloaded]

41. 1/2 gallon of diesel works better, and for longer. n/t

[NightWatcher]

14. wait till they put any remaining belongings on the street, then the vultures will fly

it's truly depressing to see a family's lives out on display and up for grabs

[Barack_America]

22. The entire country is becoming Detroit.

Next come the squatters and drugs, the mass exodus and the fires.

[KittyWampus]

30. I just had a remembrance of the Bronx in the early 80's. Looked like a war zone.

Not the entire Bronx. Just sections. I freaked out first time I saw it.

[LibertyLover]

25. If any of my former neighbors broke into the house I lost through

foreclosure and took things that we left, they are welcome to them. Better that something I liked but was unable to fit into the storage unit or bring with me to the place I'm renting find another home with someone than be thrown out by the bank's cleaners.

[1776Forever]

27. Our home in Florida was vandalized and things taken 2 wks after we moved & things were stolen.

We had some new "neighbors" move in around us after the houses in our neighborhood started to be foreclosed on. These were shady characters in some cases and the whole neighborhood started to change in a few short months. When we left our home and took everything we could in 2 trucks we went back to find the things we had left were gone and the house had spray paint on the walls. It wasn't a good time for many reasons. We had to give the home up after a prolonged illness my son had with no insurance and no help from the govt. We also had seen our insurance and taxes go up after the hurricanes in 2004. Everything was a "perfect" storm - no jobs except part-time and none for me in my 60's. It leaves you broken and depressed in the country you once thought was the best in the world. Where did it go?

[Obamanaut]

28. Report them to the authorities. Theft is theft, regardless of property

ownership, whether person or bank. Not reporting is condoning this behavior.

[4 t 4]

32. Maybe they are looking to see if any food

was left behind.... Drove between my sister's house and mine today 6 blocks north and 3 blocks east/west 11 rentals and 5 sales ??

[Obamanaut]

36. You don't really believe that, do you?

[4 t 4]

38. I don't know what I believe anymore!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What do you still believe in ?

[Xithras]

40. Has the bank already taken the homes?

I only ask because the guy across from my sister told his neighbors as he was walking out of his house, "The forclosure isn't final until next week guys! If you want anything, take it!" She was pissed because the neighbor called a few friends, and they pretty well stripped the place. They even removed some of the windows from the walls.

As it turned out, the neighbor didn't do anything illegal. Until the foreclosure date, the home still belongs to the homeowner, and the homeowner was fully within his legal rights to allow someone else to strip it. Things also get a little fuzzy when a homeowner has formally abandoned a property, but the bank hasn't yet taken ownership.

[galileoreloaded]

42. I love upside down DU world!!! n/t

[Odin2005]

44. Welcome to Depression America.