Foreclosed Homes Easy Targets For Owners, Others For Fixture Stripping, Sabotage

In Naperville, Illinois, the Naperville Sun reports:

• [F]rom missing air conditioning units to kitchen cabinets denuded of their hardware, from bannisters coated with fecal matter to that huge hole in the living room wall where the fireplace used to be, legions of homeowners are venting their anger on financial institutions and potential buyers by stripping their foreclosed properties of anything and everything of value.

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• And it isn't just the foreclosed-upon who are doing the pillaging. Unscrupulous builders, contractors and citizens who learn the locations of foreclosed properties sometimes make their way inside to steal doors, lighting fixtures, cabinets and anything else that might remain there.

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• [Inspection service company Ron] Ewald said his employees also have seen cases of sabotage instigated by disgruntled homeowners who have done everything from shutting off natural gas and water valves to "just gently loosening the fitting under a toilet or an upstairs sink."(1) Potential homebuyers "almost need three or four people to be on their toes in different parts of the house" when testing the plumbing, for example, Ewald said. That has become necessary to ensure water does not flood a room or open area because of tampering by the previous owners.

For the story, see Looks can be deceiving ...

Go here for other posts on pre-foreclosure homeowner fixture stripping.

(1) In another story of foreclosed homeowner sabotage, see Foreclosed home apparently booby-trapped (Bomb disposal experts are at a foreclosed home in Riverside, California that was apparently booby-trapped. Several suspicious devices were also located on the property). foreclosure fixture stripping apple