Some foreclosed angry homeowners are taking out their anger on the homes they are forced to leave behind, smashing holes in the walls, scribbling graffiti everywhere, leaving piles of trash, and ripping out kitchen appliances. More lenders, facing a growing problem from trashed foreclosures, are choosing to offer homes at big discounts rather than fix the big repairs, which can send surrounding home values (such as yours) in the neighborhood spiraling down.
I have seen some home values greatly diminish from foreclosed home owners who have trashed it. For example, one home that would have fetched $250,000 back in 2006 during the housing boom that would now sell for about $75,000 because it was trashed by the former homeowners. It looks like someone took revenge, which had big holes in the wall, appliances ripped out, and piles of trash. Some real estate professionals and lenders are even blaming the high number of real estate deals falling apart due to more homes being left in very bad condition by the foreclosed homeowners.
Home buyers are very unlikely to be attracted by these destroyed homes and look at these homes and think that if this is the damage I can see, what else did the home owner do to this place that I can't see?'
Some home owners facing foreclosure place the blame on banks for their woes so they leave behind a mess for the bank. But trashing a home can backfire. Some banks are saying they may even start taking steps to sue home owners for the cost of repairs, and law enforcement officials say home owners can be charged with vandalism as well as theft if they remove items that don’t belong to them from the home.
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