Foreclosed Homes Destroyed By Previous Owners (VIDEO)

Home owners who have had their houses taken away in foreclosure sometimes take their anger out on the houses themselves.

WTEV reports on a foreclosed mansion in Jacksonville, Fla. in which the previous owners have apparently ripped out the home's cabinets, light fixtures and appliances.

With millions of Americans still facing foreclosure, the phenomenon of homeowners ransacking their houses on their way out may only continue. In Florida, one in every 336 housing units received a foreclosure filing in March, according to RealtyTrac.

The glut of foreclosures across the country is weighing on property values, and with former homeowners leaving their houses completely stripped, the houses are likely to drag down neighboring property values even more. Foreclosed homes weigh on neighboring properties more than vacant homes, according to an October report from the Cleveland Federal Reserve.

Evicted homeowners ransacking their houses isn't all that uncommon. KVUE reported on a similar situation in Texas.

"They're mad at the bank so they take it out on the house," George Roddy, of the Addison based Foreclosure Listing Service, told KVUE.

Ransacked or not, foreclosed homes weigh on their surrounding neighborhoods. Properties that are occupied, but in foreclosure, drive down the surrounding property values twice as much as vacant properties, an study from last October found. In the coming year, ABC reports, American taxpayers will spend more than $40 million just to keep the lawns of America's foreclosures mowed.

The Prudential American Group says on its site that homeowners who intentionally damage their homes after foreclosure could face lawsuits.

Check out these additional bizarre foreclosure stories:

Also on HuffPost:

Comments

[Siebenstein]

02:38 AM on 06/09/2013

well, its payback time

[YvonneH]

05:11 AM on 03/04/2013

Since the banks did this to them, leaving them penniless and homeless, a bit of vigilante justice seems appropriate to me. It still makes me sick that the bankers, insurance company execs and the mortgage companies who created the housing bubble and it's collapse still have not payed any penalties as in, say, a prison sentence, for their grossly greedy and immoral acts. Instead they were given trillions of dollars which doubled the country's debt and now, many of the same people who were directly responsible for the economic collapse have been appointed to regulate and to manage the country's finances.

[Siebenstein]

04:01 PM on 11/23/2012

That is who thinks who "owns" the house, so why wouldn't "They"?

[Ty Sollys]

02:03 PM on 09/07/2012

The bank's actions drove the runaway inflation on house prices on the first place making bad loans and bad securities to eat up the profits. Then without any legal recourse - take the home back and the servicer makes a killer profit. The neighborhood may suffer, the A class (Wall Street) investor was paid by insurance for the loan, the B class investor (Pension plans) were ripped off long ago, and the bank servicer reaps profits no matter the condition of the home. This news story makes me sick, we the people should stand up against the Banks, NOT the good people in our neighborhoods.

[Siebenstein]

06:20 AM on 09/07/2012

I understand them, but in addition we should also take it out on Jamie Dimon. Where does he live?

[W L Simpson]

06:34 PM on 05/26/2012

If banks had simply refinanced the orig owner @ current values & rates, wouldn't everybody be better off ? BO could have made this happen w/a flip of the wrist. There seems to be no common sense in biz or politics, only greed.

[qwertymate]

11:02 AM on 05/24/2012

Wow, damaging house is a great idea... Well, if you are fond of scams (http://www.pissedconsumer.com/consumer-reviews/scam.html). Ruining house is illegal, I think

[Siebenstein]

04:58 AM on 05/22/2012

Damaging the home puts the bank into a spot where they have to pay for fixing it up . Okay with me.

[Siebenstein]

04:57 AM on 05/22/2012

The article header implicitly alledges the right path of action; we should take it out on the banksters--hardcore.

Jamie we are coming.

[Whatdoyou thinkof this]

02:47 PM on 05/10/2012

It's not just the homeowners that ransack the property. it's scavengers who know that the property is vacant, and salvage anything that can be sold, including air conditioning vents, sinks, bathroom fixtues, cabinets.. anything and everything. How do I know this ? A realtor told me.

[pauliji]

07:05 AM on 05/10/2012

I think the point that the reporter made at the end of the story is actually false. The cost of repairs are deducted from the sale price of the home for a very real reason. A buyer can buy a house nearby which doesn't need repairs like that. Therefore the sale price is adjusted to reflect what the neighborhood will reflect, not the other way around. Just because someone sees that there was a cheap house down the block six months ago doesn't mean that the current sellers have to sell for less. A house is worth what someone will pay, and obviously they pay less for a wreck. Common sense, not a problem.

[glpseattle]

05:45 PM on 05/03/2012

Really ?
I mean is that TV network paid by the bank to run a report like that saying that everyone will be paying one way or another ?
So it is the fault of the previous owners if the value of homes in the neighbors goes down because they took whatever they could from the home, probably most of it was their stuff anyway.
What about the responsibility of the banks for not trying to work with owners who are under water and get them a better rate so they can stay in their homes

[YvonneH]

05:17 AM on 03/04/2013

Those banks don't work with ex-suckered-in owners of houses. They did this on purpose, they don't care and they never will. They don't care that people are homeless, that people are struggling. They don't care, they don't care, AT ALL. All they care about is making billions of dollars on the backs of everybody else. Their greed is absolutely endless. And after the bailouts they got, they posted history making profits in 2010, while laying off thousands of their employees. People should dealing with the five top banks in the country.

[Benja Sophon Sariwatta]

08:22 PM on 05/02/2012

The first bailout would have paid off 90% of all the residential mortgages in the USA. Instead of giving the US citizens a free and clear house, the government gave it to bankers who trade in derivatives and engage in predatory lending and caused this financial crisis in the first place.

[YvonneH]

05:19 AM on 03/04/2013

In Iceland they prosecuted their bankers and threw them in jail for doing the same things. In the USA, they were gifted instead. And the people they hurt? Well they're homeless now.

[Lorili Lee]

04:53 PM on 05/02/2012

If American's had any balls left they would be trashing the banks and decorating trees and lamp posts with bankers.

[ThePatriotMuckraker]

08:12 PM on 05/02/2012

+1, my fellow patriot.

[Jack Webb]

10:00 PM on 05/07/2012

Fanned and faved!

[cxarli]

12:52 AM on 05/02/2012

Prudential threatens to sue about-to-be-ex-homeowners. Does it not occur to them that a debtor who has lost their biggest asset to foreclosure is likely bankrupt? What effect do they think such a threat will have on those who are essentially judgment-proof?

[Jack Webb]

10:04 PM on 05/07/2012

They see it as a good way to keep 'em down longer. Don't think for a minute that these banks are above exercising good old fashioned spite.