Strippers Arrested in Phoenix-Area Real Estate Scam
Well, there’s a headline I never thought I’d write. But it’s not what you think. As a real estate agent, some of the worst houses we sometimes see are owned by banks. In other words, foreclosures. It never ceases to amaze me that some people, certainly a minority, think it’s okay to trash the home they’re losing. It’s common to see a home where light fixtures and light switch covers are missing. To the extent that the homeowner has accessorized their home with better accessories, that’s understandable. However, many people go to the extreme of breaking what they cannot easily remove.
Bathtubs, showers and toilets, for example. This is not only incredibly immature, but it is also a criminal offense. Yet too often, banks refuse to file charges on the grounds that a person who lost their home to foreclosure is highly unlikely to be able to pay court-ordered restitution. Banks also try to avoid the adverse publicity that would result from prosecution. I have often remarked that if these owners had been as diligent in their regular work as they were in destroying their house, they might well have kept both. Let’s go back to the headline.
It seems the FBI has a mortgage task force that has been going after people who have always been dismantling houses to sell fixtures and fittings. Again, they mainly target investors and speculators who have bought multiple homes, probably to avoid a public backlash should they go after people who can’t keep up with their payments. Make no mistake though, vandalizing property is a crime, whoever commits it, and it hurts everyone by further depressing home prices.
The FBI recently arrested a genius in Anthem, Arizona, who was even advertising granite countertops on craigslist.org, one of which he was unfortunate enough to offer to an undercover agent, shortly before the bracelets began. oops!
In these sad times of diminishing personal responsibility, too many people seek to blame their own bad decisions. Then throwing away the property you shouldn’t have bought in the first place shows a mind-numbing level of immaturity. The fact that some of these people are also parents does not bode well for the future.