Foreclosures Numbers Rising

Posted in Foreclosed House, April 28th, 2008 |

Foreclosures are not something that is happening in sanitized court rooms involving reams of paper and signatures. It is something far more realistic than that. With foreclosure numbers rising so is the reek from the filth and stink of foreclosures – literally. With more and more vacant properties dotting the scene like pox, routine administration is becoming impossible. Increased foreclosures mean increased number of evictees and this translates into rising number of homeless and vagrants. Not all manage to find or afford a rental. Nature hates a vacuum and so in moves the vagrants, mosquitoes and even snakes with frogs.

There are code enforcement officers who have many tales to tell. Tom Curl and Jose Mendez inspect the vacant damaged houses taken over by the banks. Sometimes they find a brazen squatter who answers to the knock. The person had taken over the unit for quite sometime. The place, sans electricity or plumbing was vandalized with fungus on the walls and feces all over. This is the stench – the inside story of the judicial process known as foreclosure. The foul stink is so pervasive that others not affected by the sub-prim melt down are vacating the locality. In such an atmosphere healthy families will suffocate for lack of fresh air and safety. The number of abandoned units will soon be outstripping the inhabited ones if something is not done fast to stem the foreclosure tide.

The National League of Cities conducted a survey and found that 33% of the cities across US are vacant. These are literally pock marks blighting the localities. Mothers with children find it difficult to sleep properly; they jump at the slightest sound. The local governments are trying to keep vagrants out but the sheer size of the problem tips the scales against their efforts.

Some intruders are sharp. They somehow spruce up the place, hook in a line, change the locks and even rent it out. The banks are handling so many foreclosures that they hardly follow up the vacancy even after many months of repossession. Tenants moving in are unsuspecting victims of this new type of fraud. The scammers have even posted a website to net in tenants.

Ultimately when the banks send a checking party much water has flowed through the river and it is difficult to find out who is entitled to stay and who is not; it is like going back to square one!