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In my neighborhood the bank owns a house and has owned it since it was foreclosed upon about three years ago. The house is completely falling apart. It is unliv

In my neighborhood the bank owns a house and has owned it since it was foreclosed upon about three years ago. The house is completely falling apart. It is unlivable. The house is tarpped. Apparently also filled with mold. The yard has rotting wood and weeds that are taller than my head. And no one will do anything about it. The city will fine the bank $100 for each infraction and that is it. The bank could care less. I am not sure of the bank’s end goal, but I suspect they are waiting for it to be a total loss, get insurance money, and then sell the property as land, which is worth now about what they paid for it anyway. Meanwhile the local housing market is extremely supply constrained with houses going for over listing price and yet, the bank is not listing it because they think they can get more if they let it fall apart.

KingMachiavelli 5y ago
Very strange. Typically banks try to sell foreclosures ASAP to the extent that most go the 'short sale' route where they just force a sale. Given it has been only 3 years and it's already inhabitable; something probably went very wrong preventing it from being sold. It's possible the previous tenants just destroyed it... it's really surprising how bad some people treat their home.
- BeFlatXIII 5y ago
  How often do people trash a previously un-trashed residence on the way out when being evicted or foreclosed? I suspect it’s much more common behavior than anyone wants to admit.
  - etempleton 5y ago
    When I was looking at homes a year ago we looked at a few foreclosures and they were usually pretty rough. Not always because someone was destructive on the way out, but because there was something else wrong in that person’s life and the house became a reflection of that.
- dragonwriter 5y ago
  > Typically banks try to sell foreclosures ASAP to the extent that most go the 'short sale' route where they just force a sale. Short sale (which is generally not forced, but is usually win-win for the borrower and bank, so often ultimately approved after the bank convinces themselves that denying it won't let them extract more from the borrower) is typically favored for many reasons including the fact that (while there may technically be liability) borrowers who are foreclosed upon have very little incentive not to damage thr property to the extent that it enables them to extract even miniscule additional value, so things like stripping resellable (even at small fractions of the value they provide in the house) materials like pipes, wiring, and notionally-permanently-installed fixtures is extremely common.
- etempleton 5y ago
  It was in pretty bad shape before the foreclosure. The person’s health was failing. They probably could never comfortably afford the house. The deterioration has only accelerated since the foreclosure.
phendrenad2 5y ago
Maybe they suspect that a developer may want that land.

KingMachiavelli 5y ago

Very strange. Typically banks try to sell foreclosures ASAP to the extent that most go the 'short sale' route where they just force a sale. Given it has been only 3 years and it's already inhabitable; something probably went very wrong preventing it from being sold. It's possible the previous tenants just destroyed it... it's really surprising how bad some people treat their home.

BeFlatXIII 5y ago
How often do people trash a previously un-trashed residence on the way out when being evicted or foreclosed? I suspect it’s much more common behavior than anyone wants to admit.
- etempleton 5y ago
  When I was looking at homes a year ago we looked at a few foreclosures and they were usually pretty rough. Not always because someone was destructive on the way out, but because there was something else wrong in that person’s life and the house became a reflection of that.
dragonwriter 5y ago
> Typically banks try to sell foreclosures ASAP to the extent that most go the 'short sale' route where they just force a sale. Short sale (which is generally not forced, but is usually win-win for the borrower and bank, so often ultimately approved after the bank convinces themselves that denying it won't let them extract more from the borrower) is typically favored for many reasons including the fact that (while there may technically be liability) borrowers who are foreclosed upon have very little incentive not to damage thr property to the extent that it enables them to extract even miniscule additional value, so things like stripping resellable (even at small fractions of the value they provide in the house) materials like pipes, wiring, and notionally-permanently-installed fixtures is extremely common.
etempleton 5y ago
It was in pretty bad shape before the foreclosure. The person’s health was failing. They probably could never comfortably afford the house. The deterioration has only accelerated since the foreclosure.

phendrenad2 5y ago

Maybe they suspect that a developer may want that land.