Foreclosure Sale Nixed Over 142 Stinky Pets

Real Estate & Property Law

Posted Sep 14, 2007, 09:32 am CDT
By Debra Cassens Weiss

A New Jersey judge has allowed the winning bidder in a foreclosure auction to cancel the deal because of 142 foul-smelling pets, both dead and alive, found on the property.

Bergen County Judge Peter Doyne allowed the buyer to rescind the $2.6 million purchase under a 70-year-precedent that allows foreclosures to be undone when there is a surprise in the sale, according to the New Jersey Law Journal. The house was condemned after the sale.

"If this instance does not constitute 'surprise' it is difficult to imagine what circumstances would,” Doyne said.

A lawyer for the homeowners who lost the home in foreclosure, Santo Bonanno, said the ruling is surprising. "It's always been caveat emptor," he said.