Cry Me a River!

I was searching the Internet yesterday and found a story about a local crazy lady who lost her home in foreclosure. Before readers call out "misogyny" understand that I am going to tell you about an equally crazy man. In fact I am going to tell you three short tales about how people who lost their homes through foreclosure casting themselves as victims of the foreclosing party.

Case Number One - Madam X.  Madam X owned a very well located Conch House on a good block in the Heart of Old Town Key West. She owned the house for many years and made numerous changes to it without obtaining building permits. I wrote about this house a couple of times when it was listed for sale but did not disclose all that I knew about the things the madam had done including creating two additional living units which she illegally rented on a transient basis. She had created a separate living space for herself at the rear of the house which she shared with pets. Lots of pets. It reeked of pets.

Madam X listed her home for sale with a couple of very good agents over the years. One of the agents is among the five top producers in Key West. I had a buyer who made several offers to buy the house at full asking price, waived all inspections, agreed to pay all title fees, and close on a date convenient to the madam so as to ease her removal from the house. The madam refused that offer.  The real estate agent told me others had made similar offers to no avail. Madam X an answer to the foreclosure lawsuit which dragged the proceeding out for several years.
during the interim, interest continued to accrue, the lender paid the real property taxes and put force-place insurance on the house so as to protect lender's investment. 

The Clerk of the Court finally auctioned off the house a couple of years ago. Some people cried out blaming the liberals for gentrifying Key West and making the cost of living too high for older locals like Madam X, Some complained about all of the houses that have become vacation rentals that create wealth for absentee owners. (I guess those folks were unaware the madam, herself, rented her house on a weekly basis and benefited from all the income but who did not pay her bills.)  Nobody blamed the madam.  My buyer offered a million cash for the house. I think the Clerk of Court sold it somewhere in the $600,000 range.

Case Number Two - Dowager Queen. Longtime readers may recall that I used to be a lawyer and for a few years worked the special assets departments for a couple of banks in Denver. I was a worker bee at one and the manager at the other.  A woman I will call The Dowager Queen was the widow of one of Denver's most respected members of society in the 1950s to 1970s.  I went to law school with one of his sons. The queen had money but for some reason refused to pay the mortgage on her home. I started foreclosure. She called up and said something like Do you know who I am?  I said I did. She said I needed to stop and warned me that if I didn't, she would go to the newspapers and TV stations and cry about what I was doing to her. I told her to go ahead. Instead, she called the president of my bank who called me into his office to question what was going on. I explained and he said to carry on. A few days later my former law school classmate called me and asked if we could work out a deal. He said his mother was nuts and said he would pay off the loan. I gave him time and he did.

Case Number Three - Mr. Green. Mr. Green was a paraplegic Viet Nam veteran confined to a wheelchair.  He borrowed money from our bank to renovate a house for his special needs. Then he refused to repay the loan even though he had income and resources to do so. I talked to him on the phone. He told me he would tell the world about how awful I was. I told him I sympathized with his life situation  but said he had to repay his loan. I continued the foreclosure and ended up taking possession of the house a few months later. I vaguely remember meeting a locksmith at the property to gain access.

It was surprised to see how much damage a man in a wheelchair could do. He removed all the kitchen cabinets and appliances, light fixtures, light switches and plugs, as well as all bathroom fixtures except the toilets which were filled with s***.

Each of these people created a world in which they were the victims of a bank that loaned them money and then which demanded it be repaid.  I have a load of similar stories of borrowers who blamed the bank for their woes including a former Denver police detective who claimed a bank loan officer got him drunk and made him borrow money.