It's the new economy.

Old story - no relevance.

"Sears is one of a growing army that banks summon to sanitize and seal up their foreclosure stockpile."

You mean banks are withholding foreclosures from the market instead of putting them up for sale? Gee, I had no idea. And yet the media will only publish stories about how the average price of homes sold recently increasing is due to a "recovery" when the reality is that the market is being manipulated.

So this is what this Country has their Brave men and Women Fighting for in IRAQ and Afganistan, and those that have lost their lives for, so that those Corporate Executive Bankers and Corrupt Wall-Street Leeches, can sell shady loans that should of never of been offered up as any kind pof loan in the 1st place - those so-called flucting loans, should NOT of ever of been sold to the average working American in the 1st place,  and for the last 3 to 5 years all these used to be American companies who used to be here and outsourced themselves to MEXICO / CHINA, and layed off hundreds of thousands here in the US,, they are now falling behind on their mortages due to lack of decent jobs or NO jobs, and this is what we have troops that lost their lives for and troops over there now fighting for - looks like the only ones benefitting from the war are the Wall-Street Leeches - Corrupt Lying Banking CEO's and some corrupt Politicians, while the rest of the General population loses everything they got and suffers, not to mention what this does to local communities, the state, and the country, and lets not forget about the kids either ~!!  Meanwhile - our Southern most Corrupt Border "MEXICO", wants trade barriers lifted so that MEXICAN Trucking Companies can come over here and deliver their so-called goods and drugs and more ILLEGALS, and if that happens, you'll see a whole new wave of foreclosures, because the American Trucking Companies will begin to Fold like Dominos, and more will lose their jobs creating even more foreclosures ! Under then President Bush/Cheney - DOT Secetary Mary Peters, tried un-succesfully to go ahead and open up the US border to MEXICO, so they could flood in here like Ants at a Picnic and destroy whats left, and it didn't happen because of a law suit brought by OOIDA and several other Trucking groups to stop MEXICAN based carriers from entering the US to preserve whats left of the US Based truckers and their jobs ! Now its up for grabs again here shortly again, and that MEXICAN president is supposedly going to pressure Obama into opening up the US/MEXICO border to MEXICAN trucks to fill our hi-ways with their ragged un-safe junk, and if that happens - you can kiss every US Based trucking company good bye in a few short years !!!  and this is what we have troops fighting for, for these corrupt Bastards on Wall street and in washington,,,  ??????????      PLEASE - Feed back welcomed from everybody - Please, lets hear your opinions and Rants !!!!!  Thank You !!!!

How about these thieves, I mean banks putting a fair market price on these homes and make them rent to own. If this could be done then many could be in these homes instead of them going to the dogs. I know that not all banks are the bad guys but enough of them are and just the mention of banks makes me sick. We do not see the millions living on the streets anymore on the news and there is a reason for that. If we saw the faces of these women, men and children we would be up in arms. We spend billions on useless wars but allow our own to become homeless, sick and hungry. We used to be a nation of caring people but not anymore unless you count the caring we do for the rest of the world.

He better be careful about that graffiti...a lot of gangs (crips, bloods, etc.) use graffiti markers to designate their turf. If he repeatedly cleans it, and they keep coming back to re-apply it, they might go after him.

He should learn about gang graffiti ASAP, and be very careful.

the banks make more money from fees from foreclosures than they would renegotiating loans and to hell with the neighborhoods and communities....

I live in Central Illinois and the house next door has been through bankruptcy. All Spring and Summer, I have watched the house and I have mowed the yard at least once a week...self-preservation from mosquitoes and God only knows what else, if the grass was let grow. I do not even know what bank now owns the property.

This is one of the effects of changing the bankruptcy law that the banks got Congress to pass.The banks fed Congress that it was afraid that the present law made them too vulnerable to crooks.Unknown to Congress, the banks had stole trillions from themselves through the housing market.This was pure vile.The banks would have got the bailout even if the homeowners kept their homes.Almost in no cases do the banks recover as much if the homeowner went through bankruptcy.Basically ,they kicked people out just on principle.Even more are trapped in debt .If CONGRESS never rewrote the banker bankruptcy law,many would be in homes and the recession wouldn't nearly as severe.There was no reason for wallstreet to go so low because CONGRESS would have covered their losses anyway.They are too big to fail.

In our old neighborhood a cul-de-sac on 199th street every home was foreclosed on by the same bank we were the last to go. I tried negotiating with Washington Mutual but there attitude was rude and careless to say the least. My husband was laid off from a major truck manufacturer I spent 4 weeks in hospital and nearly lost my life. The bank refused to work with us. So now I have a 10yr old doublewide. We are completely refinishing the inside (You would be surprised how nice it looks) in 4 yrs our home will be paid off and we will move to a 1/4 acre lot of land we own. No more banks...:)

So who are these "clean up" companies, and or who do we contact to get into this kind fo work?

Thanks

E

This kind of work is not for the faint hearted believe me. If you're interested in doing it you should get in touch with any local real estate agent, or even one of the big banks. I've done this type of work and believe me it is not fun. Some houses aren't too bad but the vast majority of them are because when people are forced to leave they usually trash the place plus the locals show up shortly after because the home owner lets everyone know the place is open and available. Also, many of these homes are not in the best of neighborhoods so you should never work alone or after dark. You're going to spend a lot on gas in your truck going to and from the local dump as well. My best advice is if you can use a truck bigger than a pick up truck you will be way ahead of the game.

Doing this work for a bank you usually have to take what is given you, but if you do it on your own you usually have a choice and let me tell you I've walked away from some and told the owner to set it on fire. Oh and one last piece of advice you should always carry with you a first aid kit, some poison, an eye wash kit and a change of clothes and plenty of extra gloves. When you go home never enter your own home wearing the same clothes you worked in, always, always remove your clothes first, I can't stress this enough. Be sure and wash right away, never eat anything until you have--very important. This all might sound a little over the top but trust me after you've done a few of these type houses you'll see for yourself how important it is to take even the simplest precautions.

Lousy article really.

Let's face it...if these big mortage banks made money off of modifications they would be doing them.  The only thing that ever stirs them is greed.  These properties are defaulted properties and as such should be fined and prosecuted for negligence if they refuse to take care of them.  The fines should be levied heavily for this kind of irresponsible behavior.  If they would up the fines astronomically, you would see how very quickly these banks would suddenly become benevolent and help (LOL) these cash strapped homeowners!  Why don't they start instituting these fines at a state level and stop waiting for the federal government to do it?  Why - because..another example of the banks "paying off" crooked politicians! 

A private citizen who owned a home or rented it out would never be allowed to operate this way.  They would be fined heavily, declare the premises inhabitable and issue an order immediately for demoliton and charge the owner of the property for fines, demolition, and relocation of the renters.  This is a social outrage.  Why do banks have to live by a different code than the common man?   This is very strange to me.  Start charging them and fining them at a state level and you will see how quickly they begin to negotiate with the owners to modify these loans because it would be unprofitable not to do so! 

Just and idea - thanks!

Trashing a house you're forced to leave is absolutely inexcusable, regardless of the circumstances. The people who do so are worse than pigs and should be prosecuted. Most of these people have only themselves to blame. I've never heard of any realtor or banker putting a gun to someone's head and forcing him or her to buy property. Everybody loved the idea of getting rich, buying a house they obviously couldn't afford, putting their John or Jane Doe to a contract that they never tried to read, and never questioned the realtor or mortgage company about. According to this week's Time, there have even been cases of people leaving their pets behind.

This was an odd story for me....In this area everyone can tell when the bank takes over a property, the lawn doesnt get watered and weeds grow waist high(fire hazard). Maintenance stops completely and then the breakins and grafitti start because it is obvious that the property is abandoned. Banks should be subject to city laws and codes to be forced to maintain properties that they own. Cities tend to ignore the rules when it comes to dealing with banks. In some cases the neighbors try to help keep the property up so that it doesnt too badly effect their neighborhood.

Burn all boarded up foreclused homes.