We know it's wrong, but is it illegal?

I saw an article at the CNBC Web site recently that discussed the stripping of foreclosed homes. Since that occurs all the time in this area, I was fascinated by the fact that the article claimed that an owner stripping a house is actually not illegal in many states - there just aren't any laws against it. The theory seems to be that the owner, and not the bank, actually owns things like the fixtures and appliances and other additions to the basic structure and it’s OK for him to take them out before the Sheriffs sale.

The article pointed out that most mortgages have provisions against this behavior and require the mortgagee to "keep the house in good order"; however, even under those mortgage provisions, stripping the house would result only in a civil action and not in a criminal action in many states. We see almost no prosecution of these cases locally and very few banks go after homeowners for stripping their houses.

I’ve actually shown houses where everything was stripped out – I mean everything, down to the drywall. In those houses all of the plumbing and fixtures was gone, the kitchens were completely gutted, all tubs, toilets, sinks, everything was taken. One house even had the flooring ripped out, so that one stood now on the sub-flooring. Needless to say, these are now pathetic looking shells. One such house, which had been on the tax books for over $1.5 Million is now carried at $300,000, and that is just because it is the shell of a 6,000 Sq Ft house.

Recently I had the misfortune to have a personal (or at least personal from a Realtor’s point of view) experience like this. One of my listings is an empty house that was broken into and part of the plumbing cut out by would-be copper thieves. It was very disturbing to walk into the place and know that it had been vandalized. I called the police who didn’t seem all that concerned about it. They sent out an officer, but he did nothing when he got there – took down my name and the name and contact information of the owner and that’s about it – he took no pictures, collected no evidence, nothing. Maybe I’ve watched to many TV police shows, but that was disappointing.

It turns out that the would-be thieves were either stupid or inept or both. They had cut out a bunch of pipes and then stacked them on the floor of the garage, apparently with the intent to return later to collect them. The officer explained that since the pipes had not been removed from the house, no theft had yet occurred and that the only crime at that point was malicious destruction of property. You can bet that I made sure that the place was not going to be broken into in the future – doors screwed shut and the like.

When the insurance adjuster came it turned out that the owner is lucky that the thieves left without their booty. Had the copper been removed, it would have been classified as a theft by the insurance carrier and the damage would not have been covered under the vacant house policy. As it is, malicious damage is covered, so the owner will get the repair made under coverage by the insurance. It was also fortunate that I had insisted on having the place winterized, so there was no water damage at all.

I have a hard time understanding the logic, or lack thereof, of a foreclosed homeowner stripping his house and I have no patience or sympathy for them, They should be thrown in jail the same as a thief who breaks in and steals stuff. Of course my recent experience tells me that even the thieves don’t have too much to worry about anymore. They would apparently have to be caught red-handed, in the house for the police to do anything at all.