Foreclosure Surge a Cash Cow for 'Professional Squatters'

Foreclosure Surge a Cash Cow for 'Professional Squatters'

rawstory.com

Squatting is on the rise across the United States as foreclosures surge, eviction notices mount and homes go unsold for months, complicating the worst U.S. housing slump in a quarter century and forcing real-estate brokers to enlist the help of law enforcement and courts to sell empty houses.

In some regions, squatting is taking on new twists to include real-estate scams in which thieves "rent out" abandoned homes they don't own. Others involve "professional squatters" who move from one abandoned home to another posing as tenants who seek cash from banks as a condition to leave the premises -- a process known by real-estate brokers as "cash for key."

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Jeez...It's almost predictable anymore that when a society is suffering and desperate, the vultures swoop in to pick away at the carnage.

Now because of the hundreds of thousands of foreclosed properties and abandoned homes related to the housing crisis, we have "professional" squatters and con-men, taking advantage of naive and gullible people---They are RENTING OUT bank-foreclosed properties that don't belong to them to unsuspecting people!

Now I can't say I blame homeless people for taking up residence in these abandoned residences whatsoever, as homelessness is only going to be exploding much further in the current and coming economic and housing crisis, BUT---This type of predatory con-man stuff is absolutely sickening. And it sounds like it's becoming widespread, so anyone getting ready to rent---BE AWARE, and thoroughly check out your "landlord" before putting down that 1st month & deposit!

"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,'" said 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 said. "The squatters are getting sophisticated and turning it on these banks who own the properties."

She cited another case in which a Los Angeles man recently "leased" three abandoned homes to unsuspecting renters through Craig's List, the online classified advertising company. The renters paid first and last month deposits, moved their belongings in and lived in the homes for several months.

rawstory.com
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[edit on 18-5-2008 by DimensionalDetective]

I love the Cali made infommercials on latenight tv the best. I made 50k last month. I made 45k last month and quit my day job. The lizards come out from under the rocks at sundown. Bobby Lee on Madtv does a great Korean guy flipper complete with the yacht.

While i feel for the poor renters caught in such scams, I can't rake up much sympathy for the banks. We're fast getting to the mindset so widespread right after the American civil war, where average citizens found some comfort in knowing the banks weren't getting it ALL their way.

Not speaking to moral issues of right and wrong, just human nature.

Agree 100% NGC---These crooks knew what they were doing with their predatory lending, and naive folks not reading the fine print are now homeless. These same crooks turn around, get bailed out by the fraudulent fed, and it's business as usual. The only people I feel bad for here are the people living on the street and / or anyone getting preyed on by these scams.