Warning About Mortgages Questions
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Do you think home owners in foreclosure should stay in their homes as squatters?
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2009/01/30/griffin.mortgage.squatting.cnn
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| February 01, 2009 05:22 PM |
This is a TERRIBLE situation. There is no easy answer. Obviously they should stay there while the process unfolds but they should leave when the lender asks them to. But NOT before the foreclosure sale, they still own that house until the Sherrif sells it.
I worked with the RTC in the '80's managing these properties, and "squatters" were a constant problem. We did not use that term. We just referred to them as reluctant.
When we had a squatter we had to evict, we had to hire a legal firm to evict them, that cost usually an other ten thousand dollars, sometimes more.
Today it would be at least 50 percent more. We were paid by YOU ( or YOUR parents ) by the US government, to manage this clean up. We were paid 125% of whatever it cost. If we assume it costs 15,000 on average to evict a squatter today, every squatter is adding almost 19,000 to OUR tax bill. And make no mistake WE the taxpayer will pay every cent of the cleanup costs.
Encouraging people to become squatters to antagonize the lenders may give you a warm fuzzy feeling, but it is like cutting off your nose to spite your face. YOU are going to pay the lender's legal bills one way or another.
BTW. Taking the advice of the US congress is what got us in this mess in the first place. They are ONLY interested in getting elected. Never make the mistake ot thinking they are interested in your welfare. This applies equally to all political parties.
Source(s):
Been there, done that, got the T-shirt.
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Other Answers (8)
Yes, they should stay in their homes. It's a bigger problem when you get all these people out on the streets, and the possibility for them to cause bigger problems for other American people. Although it's not something that should be prolonged, there should be a law about how long they can squat, and what this squatting entails. It's too bad that this had to happen, but nobody should be without a place to live. It's sad to see people sleeping out on the street. This is not what America should be, or become, as it's people sleeping on the streets is like littering, but with a real human body. It does not look good for tourists, for people who live there, and the people who aren't in this situation. It's not good for society in general. Where are these people to go?
I agree with what Kaptur is saying. Where else should these people go? It's not like the home is going to be used for anything in the meanwhile, so why should they have to leave?
Source(s):
http://abclocal.go.com/wtvg/story?section=news/local&id=6633716
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To take your bank metaphor... If the banks didn't get a (legal) bailout, then you would condone the banks saying "Well, closing down the banks would be bad for America, so we'll just keep all your money."
Nah... We're a nation of law (well...we're SUPPOSED to be).
I am NOT unsympathetic. These are some tough times for people. But, this does not justify breaking contracts or the law.
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One benefit is for these people to use their noodle a bit more when taking loans they can't affort. Another benefit is to bring to light how unscrupulous these lenders are...
Another benefit is to bring some funding to create more homeless shelters (of which I worked for one for three years).
Saying that we should allow squatters whose homes were foreclosed because homelessness is "ugly"? I don't think so...
I happen to work in a real estate law firm that specializes in foreclosures and I don't think I am an unsympathetic individual. People have been living beyond their means for too long and blaming the banks that gave them the huge mortgage ignores the fact that as a homeowner people need to be personally responsible. Buying a $1000 TV you can't afford is one thing, but buying a $500,000 home is another.
Is it bad that people are out of a home? Yes, of course. The problem is that they probably shouldn't have been there to begin with. The fact that the word savings is nearly out of our vocabulary is the real problem. I don't want to see other people suffer, but I also don't want to have a problem getting a mortgage because other more (financially) irresponsible people messed up the system for me. Having a house is a privilege, not a right.
I have seen some communities where I would guess squatters would be welcome. Brand new communities with homes selling for $700k+ now have mainly unoccupied homes. The ones that have been foreclosed upon - or are on the market - are selling for less than $300k, if sell at all.
From the perspective of the banks that own these empty homes, and the neighbors who are still living in the homes between the empty ones, I would prefer a squatter taking care of the home. The empty homes are magnets for the homeless, vandals, and thieves who rip the houses off for their appliances and copper. This makes the value in the neighborhood go down more yet, and more home owners walk away from homes they can never hope to come out ahead on.
It's not as simple as "pay your bills or get out." Many people bought these homes while they were able to afford the payments, but didn't have the gift of foretelling. They didn't know they would lose their long time job, that their pension would go away when the company for which they worked went bankrupt, or some emergency illness was the final straw.
In some cases, then, I'm open to "squatters", so I won't say an absolute "no" to the question. It may be in the best interest of the bank, the neighborhood, and the squatter to stay.
That said, if a person buys a home - on the market or at foreclosure - legally, it should be theirs to do with as they wish. In this case, squatters need to go, unless they can work out a deal with the new owners to rent. In this current situation, I admit I'd probably check out a house closely to see if it was inhabited or vandalized or damaged before buying. But if I was a private person who had sold the home and kept the note on it, then the people quit paying and I went through the foreclosure process, I would want to move on with making the home pay for itself again - and I should have that right. In this case, I'd have to say "no" to the question. We are a nation of laws.
Every foreclosure we've dealt with has had its own set of facts. We get in trouble - and lose opportunities - when we try to make one size fit all.
Source(s):
I'm licensed CA real estate broker, as is my husband. He is also a general contractor. We deal in "hard money" loans - and foreclosures for private investors.
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Heck yeah, if I had no where else to go, I would stay in the house until threatened with being arrested. Not all people have family and friends they can stay with, much less afford to move.
And, once the people are kicked out, no one can get a loan to buy the house anyway! So it would sit and rot. The banks should try to get a buyer for the house and collect rent on it, so it doesn't sit there for 5 years not making the bank any money.
Too many ideas are in my little brain right now about all this, and not sure any of it is coming out how I want.
Yes. Squat. :-)
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People should not only start squatting but get together with other people in the same boat and threaten restitution.
The mortgage agencies and banks have not been taking proper responsibility for there actions and should be held accountable.
What most banks have been doing is not only immoral but also against local and international law.
I think i see the sun.
....Oh wait that's just American homes burning to the ground in a miraculous bonfire.
Source(s):
Common sense.
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This is not to say that they should be allowed there indefinitely but measures such as this along with debt restructuring and forgiveness will help the situation more than causing major issues for the sake of upholding a contract.
While contracts are meant to be upheld as law that doesn't keep them from being revised for fairness and applicability especially if the conditions change (rebus sic stantibus).
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