Fire-Damaged Home A Thorn In The Side For Community As Both Last Titleholder, Mortgage Holder Disclaim Ownership

In Rockford, Illinois, the Rockford Register Star reports on a:

• [s]ingle-family home that was destroyed when a garage on the property caught fire in May 2007. The grass stands about a foot high. The front yard is littered with debris, a fence around the backyard is falling apart, and neighbors say the backyard and rear porch are strewn with soiled clothes and fire-damaged items from the house.

Both the last owner of record and the mortgage company holding the loan deny being the current owner of the property, each claiming that the other is the current owner. The last owner claims that the bank has already foreclosed on the home; the bank denies the claim. Consistent with their claims, neither have stepped up to maintain the home.

For more, see Ownership squabbles prevent yard maintenance.