Vacant Mansion Gradually Being Stripped Away By Thieves; Reflects County-Wide Problem In One California Locality; DA's Office Left Holding The Bag

In Stockton, California, the Stockton Record reports:

• Thieves have been systematically stripping fixtures from one of the largest homes in the county since the residents left and security guards were pulled by its county landlords several months ago. The sprawling, Mexican-style home - between 7,300 to 8,700 square feet, based on building permits - sits on almost five acres at a rural crossroads in the eastern section of San Joaquin County. It includes a large, custom-designed indoor pool filled with murky green water, three kitchens and seven bathrooms.

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• While the property is fenced, one of the front gates is open wide enough for a truck to drive through. [...] Besides the missing [French] doors, thieves have stripped the house of light fixtures, faucets, carpets, window coverings, toilets, anything copper - including pipes, tubing and the main electrical panel - and chiseling lots of grout to remove bathtubs and, of course, the three kitchen sinks.

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• "Stealing [from vacant houses] is becoming way more common. We've got five properties in that area alone that we're dealing with now," said [Alan] Biedermann, the county's lead senior registered environmental health specialist. About every six months, he takes demolition contractors on a tour of abandoned homes so they can bid on deconstructing the property. Typically, five to 10 contractors are interested in the work. On last summer's tour, they visited 17 homes. Last week on his most recent tour - called a bid walk - Biedermann led 30 contractors through 32 homes slated for the wrecking ball. "It's going to probably get worse before it gets better," he said.

The abandoned mansion was formerly owned by a now-convicted felon husband and wife who reportedly signed away title to the home to the San Joaquin County District Attorney's Office as part of their court-ordered restitution in their criminal case. The DA's office, however, has not been able to unload it because of a large mortgage on the home and has reportedly given up on its efforts to dump it. They have contacted the lender, Washington Mutual, and "[t]old them they can go ahead and initiate foreclosure proceedings." WaMu has yet to act and declined to comment for the story (no word on how long WaMu has been stiffed on the mortgage payments).

For more, see Thieves taking advantage of abandoned rural homes.

Editor's Note:

It sounds like the San Joaquin County District Attorney's Office fumbled the ball on this one. They're stuck with a home that they can't sell, don't want to maintain, and are presumably "upside down" on. If I'm WaMu, I'm thinking of suing the DA's office and the county for allowing for the dilapidation of the home during their "stewardship."