Be careful out there.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40777392/ns/business-the_new_york_times

Banks and their contractors insist that the number of mistakes is minuscule given the hundreds of thousands of new foreclosure cases filed each month.

Gosh, you'd think they'd be satisfied with just looting them the normal "legal" way.

While I haven't personally heard of an illegal looting by a bank in my area, I have clients who've gone through hell due to the idiocy and incompetence of Chase and Wells Fargo. I've personally watched them fax documents to numbers given them by the banks, only to be told again and again that the docs were never received. The clients also have certified mail receipts showing delivery to the banks.

Unless the government imposes heavy penalties and perhaps criminal charges against the banks for this type of false seizure of property and seemingly deliberate evasion of following the rules regarding processing documents and working on modifications, this will continue. The banks are very frequently simply thieves. I've advised several clients to file banking commission complaints in our state, and to file complaints with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. I've told them to let every employee know they've recorded their names to include with their complaints. Let's see if they can get their paperwork straight when dealing with the government.

I've worked with a mortgage insurance company on bpos for ages and they've had to put up with the incompetence and foot dragging by the banks as well.

The New york Times article profiled a woman whom had her husband's ashes taken by a bank's trash-out vendor. That is one of the saddest stories I have ever read.

There was one in Las Vegas a few years ago where the PP company trashed out the wrong condo. Husband was deployed in Irag and pregnant wife was staying wtih parents in Arizona.
Bank's preservation company removed and trashed everything.
Cost them big bucks.

Banks aren't going to illegally loot a property on purpose. Too much liability. Looks like they had a problem with their contractors. PP company should loose their contract when they do something like that, unless the bank/agent gave them the wrong address.

The video story isn't showing, but I have the gist of it.
The problem is that many banks don't clearly define a limit of personals they will allow before sending the property to a personal property eviction. many PP contractors have no idea that, in some cases, removing items is a BAD idea. If a contractor sees a house full of personal property, or items of value (monetary or personal) they should always contact their client to see what should be done.
I've had to wait months for a lockout over 1 old computer tower left in a house (could have personal or financial info on it), and can't fault the bank at all for it. Each bank should have a written guide of what they consider personal property as opposed to debris, and a $ value that they will evict over rather than trash-out. It may take more time and money to get the house on the market, but in the long run, it will help stop lawsuits and people losing valuable (if only to them) items.

FYI,

Very early on in our REO career we got a call from a National PP company on a property that they said only had a couple of old broken TVs in it and wanted permission to trash out. I said "If that is all it is I guess it is OK".

They trashed out a whole house of furniture, cloths, childrens toys and funiture.

Former owner got a lawyer. (They also spray painted "I will find you and KILL you" on the back door.) {We had our contact info on the house.}

PP Company said they talked to my wife (who we use for name recognition) and got permission. They never spoke to my wife and had no record of a call to her number.

When they said we told them it was OK I just replied that I did not have the authority nor the stupidity to give them permission as it is their job to determine value of property left behind.

Cost the PP company about $20K. Just a warning, NEVER give a PP company permission to trash out anything. It is their job to determine value and, as most of us know, they will throw you under the bus in a heartbeat.

Be careful out there.

That's really good advice, although I've never been asked by PP if they could trashout.

Overall, the systems controlling PP don't seem to work very well, or they work well sporadically. It depends on which local sub crew gets sent out. I have very good experience with some, hideous with others. Some identify broken junk as personal property with a value. There should be guidelines, or use of common sense. If there are bags of garbage, or garbage strewn AND a broken chair, broken bookcase, it is likely the former occupants didn't consider anything to be of value TO THEM.

Problem I have is faulty winterizations. Those are usually performed before I get the asset by out of area crews who winterize according to warmer climate.

The problem is that some of the PP companies are very experienced and know exactly what is what; but with the drop in fees paid by the AMC's and lenders, they have attracted some desperate people that have no experience (or smarts).

I had one a couple of years ago that on Day 1 I reported as occupied. There was a tenant that lived there with his 2 sons (one under 18) along with a partially disabled adult that lived in a "mother in law" suite above the garage.

The next day, a PP crew from 80 miles away showed up and reported it vacant. They even provided lawn service. They convinced the tenant to allow them to change the locks so they could take photos and then put the old locks back. They even cut the grass.

After a series of phone calls and emails, I was finally able to convince the AMC that it was occupied, gave the pre-marketer the tenants cell number and he verified all this on the phone.

The issue for the PP company was they wouldn't get paid unless they did some work.

This ended up with the eviction taking 5 months.