Squatters Add to Mortgage Lenders' Woes; Eviction from $3.3M Listing a Civil Matter
As if banks didn’t have enough work to do with a record-breaking deluge of foreclosure cases, at least a few are dealing with an extra hurdle that must be cleared before they can gain possession–squatters who move into vacant homes.
It happened with a mansion listed for sale for $3.3 million in Kirkland, Wash., reports the Seattle Times.
A real estate agent was able somehow to remove about $80,000 worth of rented furniture with which the six-bedroom, six-bath home had been staged to appeal to potential buyers, according to the newspaper.
But local police say they can do nothing to evict the apparent squatters: Because they presented a document to support their claim of legal residence, determining ownership is a civil matter.
Nationally, some squatters are putting property into land trusts, then contesting foreclosure actions by lenders, the Times recounts. Given the confusion over ownership that often reigns in such litigation, the squatters hope lenders may not be able to prove that they own the mortgage and will simply give up.
Related coverage:
Bloomberg: “U.S. Home Foreclosures Climb 44% to Record in May”
New York Times: “Owners Stop Paying Mortgages, and Stop Fretting”
St. Petersburg Times: “How dare they quit paying their mortgage? Hey, that’s us!”
