In one Florida neighborhood, the neighbors are tired of dealing with absent property owners and they are taking matters into their own hands. While the measure will probably not help the property sell any faster, they are definitely making their point. Tired of trying to get the owner to deal with a rat infestation, one neighbor has clearly marked the property with a handmade sign reading simply “house full of rats”[1]. She says that she did not take action until the rodents chewed their way into her house and began eating electrical cords and entering her bedroom. Although there is a lien on the home for code violations, currently the owner is still responsible for the upkeep. He cannot be reached and the lender (Bank of New York Mellon as trustee for Bank of America), who has permission to foreclose and sell the property, has not yet done so. At one point, the banner on the door read “house full of rats and the bank don’t care”[2].
Do you think that lenders who have legal jurisdiction to foreclose and do not should be forced to maintain properties, or should the homeowners be held responsible?
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[1] http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/palm-beach/pb-greenacres-rat-infested-home-20110911,0,2934160.story
[2] http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2011/09/08/Foreclosed-home-full-of-rats/UPI-29901315505081/
Why would someone who does not own the property have the responsibility to do anything about this problem ? If I could not make my payments should I call the bank and ask them to mow the lawn ? Oh yeah , how about that burned out lightbulb in my bedroom, could they take care of that as well ?
Stop passing the buck-it stops with the owner. The attitude of “we don’t care who, but somebody has to fix this” has created junk legislation. That “somebody” is the owner, not the person next in line.
According to Virginia law, the water/sewer company can place a lien against the property if the previous tenant failed to pay their bill. Isn’t it obvious the priorities of lawmakers are already twisted?
It’s the owner’s responsibility to take care of the property. So if the bank can’t take care of the property-then they need to lower price and unload it off onto someone else who can. Problem solved.
I sa let the Rats at the bank deal with rats in the house. They created the problem made a ton of money and now want us to clean up the mess.
If the lender has foreclosed and the owner has vacated the property and the laender hired a property manager to “watch” the property and “locked Boxed” the property, the owner has no ability to remedy any situation and hence if the bank wants control they must step up na d manage it properly to protect the collateral since the owner has no control and probably no funds to do so. The regulators should insist on this action by the bank.
The bank used the home as collateral for the loan. The homeowner could not keep the home and had to leave. The bank has to maintain these properties for resale in order for them to get their collateral
back. Now – if the homeowner purposefully damaged the home and took their anger out on it – yes, the
homeowner is responsible for the damages and should be pursued. But if they simply left and lack of maintenance is the issue- then it is in the interest of the bank who holds the note to ensure these homes are closed up, secured, and left in good condition so as not to jeopardize the other homes
in the area. However – if there has been damage – the bank needs to repair it and pay for this up front, and pursue the homeowner for these costs – they cannot or should not leave a home opened,
abandoned, damaged and left to the elements and put the surrounding homes at risk of infestation or
disease or other dangers – chemicals can be in an abandoned home and if left unattended can contaminate surrounding homes and put people in danger. I have seen this at times – I do property preservation and no one knows what is left in an abandoned home. You have to secure the home when it
is left – you have to make sure there are no harmful materials left there. If so, they have to be removed. The bank holding the note on this Rat House needs to fumigate immediately and ensure that
rats will not intrude again.PERIOD. Thank you for reading this.
There are two scenarios where this problem occurs. One where the homeowner is responsible for the property prior to foreclosure and at the point the property has been foreclosed the bank has responsibility for maintaining the property. Prior to the foreclosure crisis banks acted relatively swiftly to foreclose and take possession of their asset upon default on the mortgage. It now appears banks are delaying the foreclosure process for the very reason outlined in this article – simply they do not want the liability of the property until they have no choice but to foreclose. The general public is caught up in the fallout as usual.
The banking industry needs to devise a plan for dealing with the rate of foreclosure – the current process is not sufficient to deal with the scale of the problem. This is just one of the indications – rats!!!
Both.
Why eliminate a source of liability.
If the housedidn’t have insurance. the lender would get it ASAP.