Florida Home Reportedly Ransacked By Buffett-Linked Mortgage Firm

Chris Boudreau of Brooksville, Florida says he is the unwilling recipient of a home makeover, courtesy of his mortgage company.

21st Mortgage Corporation, which says it is a Berkshire Hathaway company on its website, allegedly hired a private firm to ransack and clean out Boudreau's home, according to WTSP 10 News. They reportedly took out his sofa, tables, television, DVD player, tapes and cabinets. They even shredded Mrs. Boudreau's wedding dress, claims Boudreau.

"When she saw what happened, she actually went into in the dumpster trying to go through the stuff," Boudreau told the news station. "She was crying her eyes out."

According to WTSP, Boudreau had fallen slightly behind on his mortgage payments, prompting the mortgage company to take independent action.

Richard Ray, 21st Mortgage Corp's Chief Financial Officer, told The Huffington Post that Boundreau's story, as reported, is one-sided. "It's inconceivable," he told Huffington Post, "that we would hire someone to diminish the property that we have a loan against." For legal reasons, Ray would not discuss Boudreau's particular situation.

Tom Altman, Mr. Boudreau's attorney, told the local CBS affiliate that when he contacted the mortgage firm, he was told that it had the right to the actions taken because Florida is a "self-help state." However, according to Altman, Florida is not a self-help state. In fact, he says, the state has very strict foreclosure laws, which he claims 21st Mortgage violated.

The Hernando Sheriff's office sees things differently, however. They have no interest, they told WTSP, in investigating any charges of burglary, breaking and entering and trespassing, claiming the situation to be a civil matter.

Boudreau is not the only individual to allegedly experience a mortgage horror story. As the New York Times reported in September, Florida's former attorney general Bill McCollum announced that his office would investigate claims that banks presented doctored or dubious records in courts as proof that a lease exists against a property.

On its website, 21st Mortgage Corp. claims that Clayton Homes purchased their firm at the direction of Berkshire Hathaway in 2003. According to Clayton Homes' own website, Clayton Homes was also acquired by Berkshire Hathaway that same year.

Berkshire Hathaway did not respond to requests for comment.

Watch the full WTSP News 10 report here:

Comments

[TruelyFedUp]

03:53 PM on 08/21/2011

This case is exactly why we need to mandate that it is the BIRTHRIGHT of every person born to a fair share of the land, air, water and other resources needed to be self sustaining. We should not have to pay a bank for the land that is our birthright. We should not have to ask the federal government for the right to live on a piece of the land that we are born to. If every citizen was guaranteed the resources he needs to sustain his life and liberty and so he has a place from which he or she can pursue their happiness we would not have situations like this and banks would not control the government and lives of every American.

Now we have land and resource hoarding by the wealthy. Some hold land unused for speculation, some own over 2 million acres while others are homeless. T. Boone Pickens now owns the rights to a massive aquifer and is selling the water to a drought stricken Texas for his own personal profit. It should be illegal to own privately resources that the rest of us need for our survival. How much power will these people have when the very water we need for life must be paid for for their gain? It is terrifying...

[Brian Caraher]

11:09 AM on 07/13/2011

The Hernando Sheriff's Office reopened and investigated the case. Chris Boudreau is a liar. http://www.hernandosheriff.org/Applications/PressReleases/PressReleases/20110712_Christopher%20Boudreau.pdf

[makebofapay]

03:28 PM on 07/08/2011

I hope Huff Post follows up on this story. I want to know that there are prison sentences handed down to the people who did this.

[makebofapay]

03:26 PM on 07/08/2011

There had been no foreclosure proceedings started. This is terrible, shocking and un American. that the wife's wedding dress was shredded indicates malicious intent. folks, we need to rise up and put a stop to these banks and mortgage companies ripping us off, ruining our economy and taking our homes. The banks must be nationalized NOW!

[giwel7]

11:22 PM on 07/07/2011

in most cases if someone breaks into your home and robs /damage it is a crime. why is it that if a bank does it or anything related to banks it is a civil matter? if anyone else did this the police would take a report ....

[dbrett480]

08:21 PM on 07/09/2011

Because the ownership of the home is in dispute. Once the ownership is resolved, a burglary report can be taken. A similar situation would be if you were a landlord and your tenants haven't paid the rent.

[surlyguvna]

06:41 PM on 07/07/2011

But, but, if we can't ransack people's homes, how will we make money? If we can't push old ladies down and snatch their purses...how will we make money? Government just keeps getting in the way of big business and profits.

[rbchilds]

05:36 PM on 07/07/2011

1. Was the home in forclosure?
2. Was forclosure recorded/finalized (signed by the court)?
3. Was the homowner given a leave by date?
4. Why would you be on vaction when you are behind in your mortgage payments?

[floodberg]

12:14 AM on 07/08/2011

He was behind but no foreclosure documents had been filed; therefore, the foreclosure had NOT been adjudicated, and until that is done he cannot be ordered out of the house by the Court.  As for #4, he can do what he wants until the foreclosure is adjudicated; that's no justification for what the bank did.

[rbchilds]

08:11 AM on 07/08/2011

If all of your statements are true, I agree 100%. As for #4, his actions are part of what has caused this foreclosure mess, not much different than folks using their homes as an ATM machine. Sure they can do it, but there are consequences, doesn't seem to me like the mature thing to do.

[MrCool]

05:24 PM on 07/07/2011

Buffett, you would never allow this would you. There are always two sides to any given story at least. The story I like where we have only heard one side and that was from you was when you handed over billions to Billy and Melinda Gates to donate to........hum.........Africa, Education. Your statement has me confused. Iam still wondering where the advantages are for you and Billy and Melinda. Is it true Warren that the Federal Reserve will allow for a period of trading.........with the understanding that one must form a foundation to do "good deeds" and place 80% od profits into that as into Africa or Education. Warren, the other side of the storyor I will tell everybody I know about your drive to Wisconsin buying postage stamps along the way

[loki]

05:05 PM on 07/07/2011

they probably thought it was Warrens granddaughter's house

[ycplum]

04:01 PM on 07/07/2011

There really isn't enough info. I suspect the morgage company (or their agents) screwed up, but I can't really tell yet. If so, they should get reamed royally. Fines plus loss of license.

[ycplum]

03:57 PM on 07/07/2011

I'm going to have to side with teh Sheriff's office on this. I can understand where they are coming from. The problem here is that the rights to the house is not clean cut. The Morgage company has a potentially legitimate claim. The claim may be incorrect, but it is not readily clear from a legal standpoint. The Sheriff's office enforces the law or a court order, not a judge of law. They are not capable of figuring out who actually has rights to the property.

For example. If a person who is not a resident or owner of a house breaks in, the sheriffs can arrest him. If someone has a claim (even a weak one), like a resident's roomate (roomate of leaseholder), the owner, an agent of the owner, or something similar breaks in, the Sheriff's office is going to back off because you are getting into some fine points of teh law that they are not able to deal with.

[larryi1967]

06:01 PM on 07/07/2011

that is not the case in Ohio. in '92 I had a roommate and things were not going well. My name was on all the utilities and on the lease. When I came home from work one day the locks had been changed and he was no where around. He told the police he was changing the locks because I had moved out. when I called the police to complain, they told me that if I broke into the house, I would be arrested for breaking and entering. I called them to the house anyway. the mail had just went and I showed them mail in the mailbox with my name on it, but it did not matter to them, they were going on the claim of the roommate.

[ShawnRay]

12:25 PM on 07/07/2011

It is sad that you have enough money to take an extended vacation but cannot pay your mortgage.

[clemmers]

12:22 PM on 07/07/2011

How does shredding a woman's wedding dress help recover a loan?

What kind of monsters are these companies? What has been unleashed into our neighborhoods?

[surlyguvna]

06:44 PM on 07/07/2011

It doesn't, that's the point. These companies feel they can do what they want when they want...and they pretty much do.

[cloud9buddha]

12:03 PM on 07/07/2011

This almost happened to me, well it is starting. My mortgage is with Chase, lehmann brothers, empire equity group, well it depends on who you ask owns the note. Anyway, Chase has been sending this company MCS to "check" on my home. In one report they told chase it was abandoned and chase told them to change the locks. I came home one day and could not get in, after lengthy phone calls and no result I kicked the door in. I fixed everything and proceeded with the calls. I called the police who said they could not do anything cause it was a civil matter, I asked them that if I cam home and found someone in my house and then BEAT them with a baseball bat would that be considered a civil matter as well, they said no. I asked what was the difference? They had no response. MCS has now tried twice to come to the property and do maintenance, lucky for me I have nice neighbors that also carry big sticks.

[JoAnn Kennedy]

02:21 PM on 07/07/2011

Don't you just love it when our taxes pay for someone who is hired to protect the citizens who pay their salary side with the criminal -- have no response to questions and will not enforce the law and do the job WE PAY FOR.

[wewin]

11:37 AM on 07/07/2011

There is probably a law that allows the banks to enter abandoned property that they are the lender on. But they are abusing that law. A vacation is not abandoning a property!