It apparently isn’t just homeowners walking away from their homes. Now squatters are moving into foreclosure properties- and making a quick buck while they are at it:
Squatters are moving into foreclosed homes and posing as tenants so they can live in comfort until the bank either goes through the eviction process or bribes them to leave.
In a process known as “cash for key,” the squatters call the bank and boldly ask for money in order to move.
"There are people who move in and know exactly who to contact and say, ‘If you want this house, why don’t you come out here and offer me cash,’" says Detective Erin Camphouse of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Real Estate Fraud Unit.
"It’s just cheaper for the banks to do that rather than going into the courts," she says. "The squatters are getting sophisticated and turning it on these banks who own the properties."
Who says you can’t make money in real estate these days?
Yea, but it’s not the bank who’s paying the squatters tax. They’re just increasing the fees and passing cost on to the rest of us.
Hey, maybe the squatters could stay there forever if we banned housing evicitions!! Sounds like a great idea to me.
some of these people are tenants, who were duped by defaulting owners.
Ingydesu-
There are a number of tenants who have been duped by defaulting owners. I believe in this case however, they are talking about folks who take possession of abandoned homes and then demand payment to leave.
I encourage renters to check their local recorders office often to make sure that their landlord is paying the mortgage. [My landlord owns my house free and clear- I checked.]
I feel for duped renters- the squatters are a different story.
Hey, why the h*** not?
It is becoming more and more apparent to me that the only ones that are not going to benefit in some way from the multitude of plans, bailouts and handouts that are revolving around the housing market are those that are not in it in some way.
Renting now? Screw that.
Take a drive out to Riverside, find a yard with more weeds than grass, kick the door in and make yourself comfortable. Pretty soon someone will show up with a handful of C notes trying to entice you to move, and if they don’t well, at least you have saved your rent money.
Every day I think it can’t get worse and every day it does. Does that make me or everybody else crazy?
[Slight edit- I know, I'm the last prude left on the internet, but too old to change now. T]
I’m having trouble seeing how this can be a problem. I know that many states have tough eviction laws, but these people aren’t tenants. Wouldn’t this be plain old breaking-and-entering? Can someone explain to my why they aren’t immediately hauled off to jail??
If I were a Phoenix bank and somebody pulled this, I’d immediately have the power and water shut off.
Wouldn’t this be plain old breaking-and-entering?
Consider the original source for the “suatter” angle: Realtor Magazine.
I would bet that inqydesu is right and most of these people are real, legitimate tenants whose landlords went toes up, not squatters who kicked a door in.
And to the question: why would banks pay? It’s significantly cheaper and faster than the police and the courts.
If I were a Phoenix bank and somebody pulled this, I’d immediately have the power and water shut off.
You need possession first.
Your choices are: pay them a few hundred to pack up and leave or spend 3-4 weeks and 1-2 attorneys working your way through the courts.
Your choices are: pay them a few hundred to pack up and leave or spend 3-4 weeks and 1-2 attorneys working your way through the courts.
Oh, and then a few thousand more to clean and repair the place.
When you pay to leave, you also offer $ to clean. It’s very cost-effective.
Anyone who thinks the courts are the best way never had to forcefully evict and then clean up or repair after a bad tenant.
Sigh… If I knew then what I know now, I would have gone the cash route with my first few evictions, just like my attorney advised.
“Offer them a few hundred to move their furniture onto the sidewalk and then change all the locks” he said. “And, if you have to, help them load the U-Haul, too.”
I scoffed. I know better now.
Its like when my driver’s ed teacher taught about defensive driving. It doesn’t matter if you have the right of way, cause you will be dead wrong.
In this, it really doesn’t matter if it is a tenant or a squatter. if a few hundred bucks makes them go away it is worth it.
I am sure there are groups who do “squat”. Just like there are people who torch their own cars. But just like the majority of insurance claims (at least for property damage) aren’t fraud, neither are most of the “squatters” really there fraudulently.