More On Fires & Foreclosures

The following links are to recent stories on homes in foreclosure that are going up in smoke:

• Grayson County, Texas: Homeowner facing a foreclosure sale in a month gets five years after being found guilty of torching home. She had recently renewed the insurance policy on the home after the policy had lapsed for non-payment. See Pottsboro woman sentenced in arson conviction; see also district attorney press release;

• Greeley, Colorado: Homeowner in foreclosure facing arson charges; reportedly told cops he set the house on fire because he was angry at his ex-wife. See Fire "victim" arrested for arson; and Vodka, cigarettes used to start fires;

• Owings Mills, Maryland: Homeowner faces charges of arranging to have someone set fire his home in foreclosure for $10,000, so that he could collect the insurance. The home was burned and a firefighter who responded to the fire was injured when he fell through the floor into the basement. See Owings Mills Man Charged In The Arson Of His Home (U.S. Dept. of Justice press release),

• Deltona, Florida: A $2,500 reward is being offered for information on a Deltona fire that destroyed a house in foreclosure. It took 17 firefighters to knock down the flames Friday night. One was even hurt during the firefight. Investigators said arson and foreclosure is becoming a critical issue across Central Florida and say increasingly, arson is where area homeowners are turning. See Rise In House Fires Could Be Attributed To Foreclosure Rates,

• New Bedford, Massachusetts: In one South End neighborhood last month, four vacant tenements were torched. The South End tenement fires occurred weeks after four vacant apartment buildings in the North End also were destroyed or heavily damaged in apparent cases of arson. Officials said the arson problem is worsening as the rising number of abandoned, foreclosed homes become sitting targets for vandals or desperate homeowners looking to recoup their losses. See Arson becoming growing problem for police, fire as foreclosures continue,

• Pueblo, Colorado: Firefighters say another vacant home in Pueblo has been set on fire, making this the fourth suspicious house fire in just five days. Fire investigators say two of the homes are foreclosures. See Firefighters investigate a string of vacant house fires in Pueblo,

• Salinas, California: Possible arson is being investigated as the cause of a fire that destroyed an unoccupied house, firefighters said. Salinas fire battalion chief said the estimated cost of damages to the recently foreclosed home is $100,000. See Suspicious cause in fire in east Salinas home.

Torching property in an attempt to escape unaffordable loan payments is not limited to homes, as this story illustrates:

• Baltimore, Maryland: Two local residents with unaffordable payments on their auto notes each arranged to have their cars torched and collected on the insurance. One, a former Maryland Transit Authority cop, got a year and a day in prison plus three years supervised release; the other, an ex-MTA bus driver, got two years probation. Both were also ordered to do community service. The torcher that they hired, also a former MTA cop, got five years in prison. See Former MTA Police Officer And Bus driver Sentenced In Arson And Insurance Fraud Scheme (U.S. Dept. of Justice press release).

For anotherstory on the Maryland cases, see WBAL-TV Channel 11 (Baltimore, Maryland): Arsons Due To Foreclosures Increasing, Experts Say (Bail Set For Md. Man Accused Of Arson At His Home)- if link expires, try here for the same story.

For other stories on fires & foreclosures, go here, go here, go here, and go here. foreclosure arson whale