In case you hadn’t heard, the recession ended last year. Forgive me if I don’t pop the champagne but, I haven’t seen any signs of that lately. One of the unfortunate trends that has erupted during the recession is a “scorched earth” mentality towards homes by their defaulting residents. As the result of the bank bailouts and finger pointing by the press, people have reached the conclusion that they are no longer responsible for their own outcomes and that the banks and Credit Unions are deserving of their wrath.
California man burns down home over foreclosure
Stoney Ridge Protest Eviction May 2010
Some organized groups have gone as far as holding protests and “sit ins” in the attempt to thwart evictions resulting from the foreclosures and often times they succeed in convincing the lenders to allow for some level of relief through extension or modifications. Scenes like the Stoney Ridge forced eviction by the police are not what any lender wants to be associated with. How successful these are is yet to be seen. Most lenders would obviously prefer to modify rather than realize a loss but, regulations and underwriting often prohibit such actions when the debtors have insufficient income or simply fail to provide any necessary documents to facilitate the actions.
An add result of the high number of foreclosures is the growth in the numbers of people who choose to “squat” in these vacant houses. While this occurrence was previously an inner city problem and sometimes occurring in lower income neighborhoods, some people are going for the gold and are squatting in upscale neighborhoods or opting for the seclusion of mansions where they have been known to live it up with parties and taking full advantage of the amenities.
Florida squatter takes over mayor's foreclosed home
CNN Broadcast on foreclosure vandalism
Angry house flipper destroys homes in Las Vegas
Far more disturbing are those debtors who feel the need to tear the house apart and inflict more serious depreciation to the house through purposeful vandalism which, odd enough is completely legal until the lender takes possession of the property. Debtors have been tearing out everything from appliances to copper wiring and pipes in the attempt to squeeze everything of value from the property before it is seized by the lender. In addition to this, they frequently will tear up the walls, stain the carpets and write graffiti with spray cans to illustrate their misguided anger.
The most disturbing trend has been the numerous cases of debtors commiting suicide. As sad as it is that some of these people have lost their homes, it is extremely disturbing that anyone would take their own life. In most of these cases these were long time homeowners who had their lives invested in their homes and from an emotional view, lost everything.
Houston Couple Commit Suicide Before Foreclosure
“Life is the sum of all our choices” was written by Albert Camus. Apparently many people had chosen poorly during the housing boom and some are opting to continue to make poor choices and show their lack of character. Years ago when I was a repossessor, I quickly learned that you couldn’t judge a person so much by their circumstances but rather how they handled themselves in them. While I know there are a great number of people who have been managing themselves with great dignity under these unfortunate circumstances, there are those individuals who choose to take matters to such childish and sometimes fatal levels of behavior. It is with this understanding that we must all remind ourselves to treat our members and customers with the same level of respect and sensitivity we would expect for ourselves or loved ones.
