Bank changes locks on occupied, foreclosed homes

[marmar]

CHARLOTTE COUNTY - Two Canadian tourists returning to their rental home from a day at the beach found evidence burglars had struck -- or so it seemed.

Their laptop computer and MP3 player were missing, as were six bottles of wine. A half-empty beer opened by the intruders was still cold and sitting on the kitchen counter.

But why, then, had the locks on the front door been changed?

It turns out that a Sarasota company working for a lender trying to retake the property through foreclosure sent two men to the Punta Gorda home to break in and change the locks, even though the home was obviously occupied.

It is illegal for any bank representative to enter a property if they have not yet retaken it at a foreclosure sale, especially if there is any sign the home is occupied, foreclosure experts say. ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20101004/ARTICLE/10041051/2416/NEWS?p=all&tc=pgall&tc=ar

[KingFlorez]

1. Banks are crud

[ThomCat]

2. So, will the banks take responsibilty for the stuff stolen

from the homes by their agents?

of course not! :grr:

Banks don't take responsibility for anything. The homeowner is expected to sue the banks to get reimbursed for the loss, and then deal with the bank's army of lawyers.

Not only do the agents break the law by breaking into occupied homes, and changing locks on homes that people are living in, and stealing items from those occupied homes, but then the banks do nothing at all to take responsibility for what their own felonious agents are doing!

The banks created this entire mess, this collapse of the economy and this mass of foreclosures that is ruining so many lives. And the damage continues. Yet the banks still take no responsibility for any aspect of any of the harm they have caused. :(

If there was any justice at all in this nation, Judges would be shutting down these banks because they are unfit to remain in business.

[Hannah Bell]

11. "Banks don't take responsibility for anything" = +100.

[flvegan]

3. Actually, in Florida it's not the sale. It's the post-sale eviction.

Seems slightly reprehensible that the "owner" was renting a house in this stage of foreclosure to tourists.

I won't comment on the bank reps. They're all scum.

[pnwmom]

5. Nothing wrong with renting a home in foreclosure.

Foreclosure can take well over a year, and until the process is complete the owner can live in it or rent it.

"The break-ins are happening because homeowners can stay in their property, or even rent it out, until completion of the foreclosure sale, which can take months or years after a foreclosure suit is filed."

[flvegan]

8. Post Final Summary Judgment rental?

See had they started renting before the FSJ, they'd have gotten Service of Process and have been aware of what was going on. And if this was after the eviction process started...even worse.

Quoting an already somewhat inaccurate article doesn't change things.

[pnwmom]

10. How do you know this house was "Post Final Summary Judgment"?

That's not in the article anywhere. Or are you just assuming that the bank wouldn't have done this otherwise? A main point of the article is that banks are sometimes changing the locks prematurely. Are you disagreeing with this? On the basis of what?

Unfortunately, banks have done even more egregious things. They've even foreclosed on new owners who paid ALL CASH in an approved short sale! (That bank had previously started a foreclosure action, and "forgot" to cancel it after it was sold to new owners.)

[flvegan]

13. Of course it isn't.

I wouldn't expect media idiots to have any idea nor access to what I do know.

Comes from being "in the biz" baby. Reality is a damn funny fucking thing, that.

[naaman fletcher]

7. why?

As a vacation rental, they are probably just renting it out for a week at a time. If you know foreclosure is, say, 60 days away, why not rent it out for a week? You are still the occupant have all the rights of an occupant.

[flvegan]

9. See #8. n/t

[Rex]

4. Some people are bankers, others are bangsters.

Looks like more aft than fore.

[Jamastiene]

6. They padlocked my aunt's house while we were still there.

If there hadn't been two doors, we wouldn't have gotten the cats out in time. They padlocked one and I hustled the cats out the other one. If I hadn't stood in the doorway and moved as slow as possible to grab our cats, there is no telling what would have happened. That's how quick they were about it.

I thought that it was normal to change the locks and padlock a house when you lose your home. :shrug:

[pnwmom]

12. Sorry you and your aunt had to go through that, Jamastiene.

That must have been awful.