Foreclosure Vandals Threaten Prospective Homeowners: 'Only Going To Get Worse'

The painful process of foreclosure sometimes carries over to the next prospective buyers.

In Anoka, Minnesota, twenty-somethings Nate Kruckeberg and his girlfriend were set to close on their first home when an unexpected act of vandalism forced them to think twice, FOX 9 News reports. Written on the garage: “Take my house [expletive]… only going to get worse."

Such acts, believe to be perpetrated by disgruntled victims of foreclosure, turn out to be fairly common in the area.

"Folks ha[ve] hammered through every wall and every door," Minneapolis realtor Erik Brown told FOX 9 News. "We've also seen spray painted walls, where they write, 'We're coming back.' They don't."

Foreclosure vandalism has been occurring across the country, both by those evicted and not. Early last year in Huntington Beach, California, for example, vandals poured cement down the drain of a home, resulting in $250,000 worth of damages, ABC News reports.

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.

It's become enough of a problem in Las Vegas that new laws were passed last year to increase resulting penalties. In 2010, it’s estimated that 13.9 percent of nationwide bank owned properties were so badly damaged they didn’t qualify for mortgage financing, ABC News reports. The situation appears even worse in Florida, where a realtor told ABC News that about half of the foreclosed homes she deals with have been vandalized.

Homes abandoned because of foreclosure is a growing problem for a number of reasons. For one, banks now own so many empty homes -- the Federal Reserve estimated there were at least 500,000 last year -- that they can’t afford to maintain them, causing blights to the neighborhood and often lowering property values. And when abandoned homes are owned by government, the burden of maintenance often transfers to taxpayers, who will spend $40 million this year just to mow the lawns of almost 200,000 such properties.

Beyond vandalism, these abandoned homes often become the site of squatting and drug use.

Check out these additional bizarre foreclosure stories:

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• Columbine Shooting Survivor Fighting Foreclosure With Occupy LA's Help

  Richard Castaldo survived the shooting at Columbine High School 13 years ago and now he is fighting to <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/27/richard-castaldo-columbine-foreclosure-occupy-la_n_2198146.html?utm_hp_ref=business" target="_hplink">rescue his home from foreclosure</a>. The people of Occupy Los Angeles are helping Castaldo and others like him to save their homes.

• USDA Forecloses On 78-Year-Old Cancer Patient

  The USDA foreclosed on 78-year-old Texas resident Alicia Ramirez, reportedly <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/06/alicia-ramirez-cancer-eviction_n_1747933.html?utm_hp_ref=business" target="_hplink">after she was diagnosed with cancer.</a> While the USDA has thus far allowed Ramirez to remain in her home, a court order evicting the senior citizen could be issued at any time.

• Foreclosure Victims Lose Belongings After Free Yard Sale Goes Wrong

  The Vercher family of Woodstock, Georgia, offered to give away a <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/25/vercher-family-woodstock-craigslist-foreclosed_n_2017738.html?1351188857" target="_hplink">number of household items in a Craigslist ad</a> after their house was foreclosed on. Instead, they ended up losing nearly all of their belongings when people began taking items from inside the house.

• Wells Fargo Offers Cancer Patient 'Assistance' Then Forecloses

  Terminal breast cancer patient Cindi Davis could no longer keep up with her mortgage payments due to the cost of her medical bills. Faced with media scrutiny, her lender <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/14/wells-fargo-forecloses-cancer-patient-cindi-davis_n_1883956.html?1347635836" target="_hplink">Wells Fargo told a local radio station it was seeking "assistance"</a> for Davis just weeks before setting the date to auction her home for December 19th, 2012.

• Coca-Cola Heirs Lose $37.5 Million To Foreclosure

  Descendants of Coca-Cola founder Asa Candler have been hit hard by the housing bust with their <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/09/17/candler-family-foreclosure-losses_n_1890911.html?1347906436" target="_hplink">real estate development company losing $37.5 million to foreclosure since the Great Recession began</a>. (Pictured: the former mansion of Coca-Cola heir Asa Griggs "Buddy" Candler, Jr.)

• Mom Evicted On Mother's Day

  After she and her husband were allegedly duped into a bad loan, California mom Sheri Prizant faced the possibility of being evicted from her home on Mother's Day, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/11/sheri-prizant-eviction-mothers-day_n_1507681.html?1336741860" target="_hplink">MSNBC</a> reports.

• CT Family Never Missed A Payment

  Shock Baitch and his wife Lisa of Connecticut <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/30/bank-of-america-foreclosure_n_802861.html" target="_hplink">were threatened with foreclosure by Bank of America</a> after never missing a payment. BofA mistakenly told credit agencies they were seeking a loan modification. "Now I am literally and financially paying for it," Baitch told <a href="http://ctwatchdog.com/finance/bank-of-americas-christmas-present-foreclose-even-though-not-a-payment-missed" target="_hplink">CTWatchdog.com</a>.

• Man Gets Free Home After Lender Shutdown

  Facing foreclosure, Perry Laspina of Jacksonville, Florida ended up with a home practically for free after his mortgage lender was shut down by parent company Wells Fargo, <a href="http://realestate.aol.com/blog/2011/04/14/foreclosure-foul-up-wins-man-a-free-home/" target="_hplink">AOL Real Estate reports</a>. Laspina got the home "because of the significant decreased value of the property," a bank spokesman said.

• BofA Forecloses On Building With Own Branch Office

  In Boynton Beach, Florida, Bank of America filed a foreclosure lawsuit against the owner of a building that houses one of its own branches, <a href="http://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/news/2011/05/27/foreclosure-roundup.html?page=all" target="_hplink">South Florida Business Journal reports</a>.

• Threatened Over $0.00 Unpaid Mortgage Payment

  A Massachusetts man was told he'd <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/08/massachusetts-homeowner-receives-foreclosure_n_872518.html" target="_hplink">face foreclosure unless he paid an outstanding mortgage payment worth $0.00</a>. "I'm going to write a check to them for zero dollars and have it clear? I couldn't help but laugh," he joked with local <a href="http://www.wwlp.com/dpp/news/i_team/I-Team:Man-gets-a-$0-foreclosure-notice" target="_hplink">News 22 WWLP</a>.

• Home Allegedly Ransacked By Mortgage Company

  Chris Boudreau of Brooksville, Florida <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/06/florida-home-ransacked_n_890656.html" target="_hplink">told local news that his house was ransacked by his mortgage company</a>, 21st Mortgage Corporation, who he says even shredded his wife's wedding dress. "When she saw what happened...she was crying her eyes out," <a href="http://www.wtsp.com/news/local/article/199268/8/Mans-home-trashed-by-mortgage-company" target="_hplink">he told WTSP 10 News</a>.

• Mortgage Payment Made Too Early

  A senior couple in Pasco County, Florida faced foreclosure not for missing payments, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/22/senior-florida-couple-faces-foreclosure-mortgage-early_n_933147.html" target="_hplink">but for making one too early</a>. According to a Bank of America representative, they made themselves ineligible for a mortgage modification under the Home Affordable Modification Program when they did not make their payment in the "month in which it [was] due."

• Foreclosure In 'World's Richest Apartment Building'

  Property developer Kent Swig and his soon-to-be ex-wife Elizabeth faced foreclosure from their apartment at 740 Park Avenue, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/26/foreclosure-hits-property-developer-billionaire-building_n_937676.html" target="_hplink">a New York City address often cited as "the world's richest apartment building."</a>

• Untransferred Title Leads To Unfair Foreclosure

  Brian and Khanklink Pyron of Houston, Texas were <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/10/brian-khanklink-pyron-foreclosure_n_1003339.html" target="_hplink">threatened with foreclosure despite keeping current on their payments due to an untransferred title</a>. "We did everything we were supposed to do," Brian Pyron told <a href="http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/news/local/110926-family-hit-by-surprise-foreclosure?CMP=201110_emailshare" target="_hplink">MyFoxHouston</a>.

• Foreclosure On Hurricane-Destroyed Home

  Brad Gana, of Seabrook, Texas was threatened with foreclosure by Bank of America even though his <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/31/foreclosure-crisis-bank-of-america-hurricane-ike_n_1068080.html" target="_hplink">house had been completely destroyed years earlier in Hurricane Ike</a>. "Bank of America is ruthless in their incompetency," <a href="http://www.click2houston.com/news/Bank-Forecloses-On-Home-Destroyed-By-Ike/-/1735978/4718190/-/vpooliz/-/index.html" target="_hplink">he told Houston 2 News</a>.

• $1 Coding Error Leads To Foreclosure

  Utah's Shantell Curtis and her family were threatened with <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/03/bofa-foreclosure-missing-1-already-sold-home_n_1074538.html" target="_hplink">foreclosure by Bank of America on a home they had already sold years prior</a>. On top of that, the whole episode concerned the matter of just a $1 coding error.

• Investigative Journalist Becomes Foreclosure Victim

  George Knapp, chief investigative reporter for Las Vegas CBS affiliate KLAS, found he was a <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/29/foreclosure-crisis-investigative-reporter-george-knapp-victims_n_1119480.html?ref=business" target="_hplink">victim of the very brand of foreclosure fraud he was investigating</a> for a news report. Him being the reporter, the episode put him in a "very weird spot," <a href="http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/als-morning-meeting/153585/local-tv-station-tackles-mortgage-mess-as-investigative-reporter-discovers-hes-a-victim-too/" target="_hplink">he told the Poynter Insitute</a>.

• BofA Falsely Threatens Paralyzed Man With Foreclosure

  Robert Galanida, a 41-year-old man paralyzed from the shoulders down, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/12/bank-of-america-sends-false-statements-paralyzed-eviction_n_1202463.html" target="_hplink">battled Bank of America for nearly a decade</a> because it repeatedly sent him false statements threatening foreclosure.

• Tracy Morgan Refuses Mother Foreclosure Help

  In January 2012, actor Tracy Morgan reportedly refused to give his mother <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/31/tracy-morgan-foreclosure-mother_n_1244641.html" target="_hplink">$25,000 she needed to avoid foreclosure</a>, instead offering only $2,000.

• Bank Of America Plaza Foreclosure

  The Bank of America Plaza in Atlanta was sold at a foreclosure auction in February after its landlord, BentleyForbes, could no longer afford mortgage payments, <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-02-14/american-foreclosure-bottoms-at-atlanta-tower-auction-mortgages.html" target="_hplink">BusinessWeek reports</a>. BofA <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/10/bank-of-america-plaza-foreclosure_n_1197040.html" target="_hplink">was a tenant in the building at the time</a> but had no other connection besides sharing the tower's ironic name.

• JPMorgan Tries To Foreclose On Civil Rights Activist

  Even while it promoted a February 2012 campaign to "fulfill" the "vision" of Martin Luther King Jr., <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/07/helen-bailey-foreclosure_n_1260078.html?ref=foreclosure-crisis" target="_hplink">JPMorgan Chase threatened 78-year-old civil rights activist Helen Bailey with foreclosure</a>. The bank ultimately allowed Bailey to stay in her home indefinitely after Occupy Nashville helped bring national attention to the issue, <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/02/14/425255/helen-bailey-foreclosure/" target="_hplink">Think Progress</a> reports.

• Foreclosure At Luxury Retirement Home

  Despite being billed as "cosmopolitan living for ages 60+," the luxury <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/02/fox-hill-foreclosure_n_1314970.html" target="_hplink">Fox Hill Senior Condominiums was threatened with foreclosure</a> in March after its lenders said they were backing out.

• Man Fined For Not Mowing His Old Lawn

  David Englett was charged with fines by the city of Arlington, Texas for not mowing the lawn of <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/03/02/david-englett_n_1317276.html" target="_hplink">a house he had already lost to foreclosure years earlier</a>.

• 101-Year-Old Woman Evicted From Home

  Texana Hollis was evicted from her home due to foreclosure in September 2011, then <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/22/texana-hollis-evicted-detroit-woman_n_1222452.html?ref=foreclosure-crisis" target="_hplink">denied a subsequent promise that she could move back in</a> by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. It wasn't until April 2012 that <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57409700/texana-hollis-evicted-at-101-allowed-back-home/" target="_hplink">she was finally granted permission to return to the home</a> she's lived in for 60 years.

• BofA Forecloses On Woman After Telling Her To Miss Payments

  According to Pamela Flores, an Atlanta homeowner, <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/10/bank-america-foreclosure-miss-mortgage-payment_n_1414988.html" target="_hplink">Bank of America advised her to stop making payments</a> on her loan in order to negotiate a modification. After doing so, the bank foreclosed on her anyway, claiming she'd missed a trial payment

• Mother, Disabled Daughter Forced Out Of Home Even After BofA Modification

  Dirma Rodriguez and her disabled daughter<a href="https://editorial.huffingtonpost.com/entry/?blog_id=2&entry_id=1423883" target="_hplink"> were forced to flee their home in minutes</a> after Bank of America sold it to a flipper at a foreclosure auction, even though the bank had already modified her loan. But not all hope is lost; Rodriguez may get her home back after the Occupy Fights Foreclosure movement intervened.

Comments

[Christopher Stahnke]

12:19 PM on 05/16/2012

I have mixed feelings about vandalism by ex-homeowners but I think if you haven't had the trauma of being thrown out of you own house--particularly because of the fraudulent practices of the banking industry then it's hard to judge. But let's be clear here. In this country Justice as a concept is rapidly fading as long as laws are not enforced and localities are willing to spend millions on beating and arresting non-violent demonstrators who are just trying to claim a voice in the public square that seems only to be allowed for large corporate interests and the so-called tea party activists (the original tea-party was not at first wholly owned by the corporate oligarchs) which actively serves those interests. If you don't put thousands of bank executives who deliberately defrauded investors and caused untold misery and damage to the world economy in jail but, rather, rewarded them then justice in this country does not exist and no law is really valid.

[Christopher Stahnke]

12:12 PM on 05/16/2012

In a certain way the banks don't much care if the foreclosed home is actually valuable or even if it's destroyed they usually are on their books as an asset based on the value of the home when it was foreclosed. Bank executives care neither for the homeowner nor their own institutions. If they make the books look good for two years they can be on to their next job--if they work for a TBF bank then it doesn't matter at all what they do the gov't will step in and save them no matter how fraudulent the books (accounting is now routinely fraudulent for the larger corporations). Why bother with insurance?

[fwxer]

03:57 PM on 05/07/2012

Criminals belong in jail. This includes anyone committing vandalism, house buyers who lied on their mortgage applications, loan agents who accepted loan applications they knew were fraudulent and the executives of banks and mortgage companies that sold investors packages of loans they knew were obtained by fraud.

[salsnow73]

06:26 PM on 05/12/2012

The root of the problem is:
1. The price of the mortgage is high than the value of the property.
2. The banks charge higher interests on peoples, so in time it become difficult to keep up with payment.

[Bluebird88]

05:52 PM on 05/03/2012

Turning on all the faucets before leaving causes massive damage to a home.

[luckyone77]

04:55 PM on 05/03/2012

Cities need to start fining banks for failure to mow lawns and creating blight.

[robert horwitz]

03:54 PM on 05/03/2012

Revenge is a dish best served cold.

[unfoxworthy]

03:03 PM on 05/03/2012

Oh Gawd...so don't feel sorry for "the perp", the family screwed by the entire banking system for just trying to have a piece of the American Dream...just feel sorry for the new owners who are actively participating in the screwing by snapping up a cheapo house!
Buyer beware now has two faces?
F*n amazing!

[rwkaia]

01:39 PM on 05/09/2012

I think your feelings for those who lost their homes are right on, However, what is done is done. Once the foreclosure is in the books its on to a new chapter. This HP story just highlights another phase of this debacle. And as you point out, the system has not helped those hurt the most.

[unfoxworthy]

04:06 PM on 05/09/2012

the bitter taste is no less bitter - once I've moved on. Thanks for the acknowledgement.

[IDriveACrapWagon]

02:17 PM on 05/03/2012

Punching holes in walls and doors, while expensive, is cosmetic damage that can be patched or repaired by almost any handyman. If you want to do real damage, take out the toilets, mix up a 5 gallon bucket of thin set mortar (or whatever cement you have laying around, dump it into the drains, then put the toilets back before the sheriff comes to kick you out.

I had a friend whose wife complained to the contractor about a tile job in their bathroom and the tile installer retaliated by dumping grout down the drains. Lots of tunneling and thousands of dollars later it was fixed. I guess that a house could be made permanently unlivable and it wouldn't be discovered practically until the new buyers moved in.

If you're buying a foreclosure, get a really good inspector during the option period!

[drumz]

01:09 PM on 05/03/2012

I'm a carpenter and will work to tear it down for you and then fix it for the banks. Everyone wins and I get a chunk of their money and you get some physical satisfaction as I guide you in the destruction process.

[TaxpayingVoter]

12:44 PM on 05/03/2012

I just can't help thinking that if the banks had been more patient and worked with the homeowners more that everyone would be in a much better place.

The people would still have their houses and the banks would still get paid - and likely lose less money in the long run than they do with foreclosures and short sales.

It could have been handled SO much better overall.

They needed to adjust for the extreme changes of the economy that no one could control.

[RealPolotik]

03:08 PM on 05/03/2012

I only see one problem with this...
""they needed to adjust for the extreme changes of the economy that no one could control. ""

Someone could have controlled for this, and that person is "We The People"..

[TaxpayingVoter]

03:26 PM on 05/03/2012

We The People weren't in control of the individual's mortgages and couldn't opt to work with the homeowners to try and let them keep their homes while assuring the bank ultimately got its money, as well.

I think you missed the point.

[Christopher Stahnke]

12:03 PM on 05/16/2012

Unfortunately most banks do not and cannot operate that way. We live in Pottersville now and the Potters of the world are in charge and "the people" entirely support that by believing that money is the only ultimate arbiter of values and leave religion to rule only our sexual lives. If churches in this country actually paid as much attention to the plight of those who are losing their homes and their connection to their communities as they do to snarling at gays and people who read books then we'd see a social revolution in this country.

[ponderingtoo]

10:34 AM on 05/03/2012

In my opinion, one of the biggest causes of all these problems are the credit default swaps that the high finance guys were, and still are, selling/buying. They divorce any interest the banks/investors have in maintaining collateral from the money lent because someone somewhere has written a contract guaranteeing they'll be made whole. But as with everything, the fine print is pages long. While people who have nothing to do with the house send notices of default and demands for payment back and forth, the house rots.

The problem with people in an economy with a GDP of around $10 trillion issuing credit default swaps/other credit derivatives with nominal payouts valued at 10 times that amount or more should be apparent but clearly is not: when the music stops, there aren't enough chairs for everyone.

And while everyone fights in court to see who doesn't get a chair, those chairs that do exist crumble.

[[e-mail]]

10:11 AM on 05/03/2012

This is exactly what bank victim's should do ... be as much of a threat as possible. What would you advise ? ... that they just ride off into the desert and die silently ...? Those who have their foot on the necks of others should get used to the feeling of real fear ... like being a "tunnel rat" in 'Nam ... never knowing what your gonna find ... or when or where you're gonna find it ...

[Leond]

12:59 PM on 05/03/2012

Except that no one from the bank is ever going to set foot on the property to know your "fear". It's being misdirected at some young family just looking to buy their first place, or the guy making minimum wage to clear a house. You're punishing all the neighbors who now have a dangerous building in the neighborhood that no one can fix.

[drumz]

01:02 PM on 05/03/2012

Nobody can fix? What are you talking about? They are creating jobs! Can you say that about the banks?

[KDMac]

01:21 PM on 05/03/2012

What would I advise? Pay your damn bills, that's what I would advise.

[Gaylord P Farqua]

09:24 AM on 05/03/2012

Banks have successfully avoided the responsibilities of ownership all across the nation. Instead of foreclosing they might have at least considered amortizing mortgages out for say 50 years with a cut off at 30 years to get payments down and keep families in homes where they could. Instead they made a mockery out of the loan modification programs and never intended to do anything but foreclose. Secondly, they made inadequate provisions for managing the properties they seized. Had they hired professional property managers to supervise getting these homes in shape to sell or to rent they simply ignored this real estate and let it decay. By doing so they have affected the values of the homes in the neighborhoods and have cost their "neighbors"  sales and rentals not to mention having to live next door to a crack house or vandal target. Apparently their saviors in the "vulture" market are not ready to bail them out and waiting for the banks to give them these homes. And, eventually they will....

[EHenry]

09:21 AM on 05/03/2012

This is not a shock. The underlying root cause of our economic disaster and vast chasm of income inequality as well as the lack of concern for the common good has not been properly identified, and cannot be fixed until it is recognized and acknowledged that the return of
Social Darwinism has metastasized into Financial Darwinism. And my newest book is the only one about this return, how it happened and how to fix it.

David Satterfield, the former business editor of the Miami Herald and 2 times Pulitzer winner who wrote the foreword for "How We Got Swindled by Wall St Godfathers, Greed & Financial Darwinism ~ The 30-Year War Against the American Dream also endorsed Swindled:

“With keen intellect and searing wit, Henry Schoenberger’s How We Got Swindled exposes the myriad of financial hijinks and colossal leadership failures that have turned the first decade of the new century into an economic disaster. Schoenberger not only identifies the causes, rationales and human failings that led to this mess; he provides some ready answers for how we must go about fixing it. This should be must-reading for every policy maker in Washington and every student of economics and finance.”

So if you want to know what Congress and Wall Street do not want you to know and what the media does not understand well enough either read the only book that has all the information and how to fix the mess our Republic is in: www.howwegotswindled.com

[twoto2]

08:54 AM on 05/03/2012

Had a guy I know state yesterday that he was losing ground and that if the bank foreclosures there won't be anything left to close on. I said don't you worry about breaking the law? And he said "Why, this was a fixed game all along and the bank people knew a janitor couldn't afford a half million dollar home anyway.(this guy is a house painter) My payments were being handled until I lost my job. The bank doesn't want to work with me. I really don't care about the system anymore." Not sure if that is all talk but this story does point to the fact people are in fact getting tired of the way things are.

[KDMac]

01:22 PM on 05/03/2012

Wow, what a jerk.

[DannyMcDance]

02:10 PM on 05/03/2012

And I'm getting tired of how stupid and irresponsible the average American is.

[JoAnn Kennedy]

02:25 PM on 05/08/2012

And I am getting tired how stupid and irresponsible the bankster is

[Christopher Stahnke]

12:08 PM on 05/16/2012

Me too--I'm tired of the average American believing that the very fact you make more money means that you are more virtuous and thus allow a rogue's gallery of corporate thugs to erect toll booths and protection rackets (e.g., GWT) to take their money in exchange for living in the Matrix.