Right or wrong, I'm seeing more and more folks using the "opportunity" of a foreclosure to solve long running disputes with their neighbors. Have you ever had a neighbor who wouldn't prune the tree that was leaning on your fence? How about the neighbor who decided to do some landscaping and captured part of your property in the process of doing it?
When a home goes into foreclosure, and that pesky neighbor is gone, is it OK to take care of these issues while the home is owned by an entity instead of a face that you have to encounter day after day? Some seem to think so.
In one case, a neighbor who had had a decades long dispute about a carport being built across property lines, decided to rent a jackhammer and erect a fence ... through the carport. How is that for a message to potential buyers that there may be some issues to deal with if they buy this house?
In another case, a neighbor had repeatedly asked for a palm tree to be taken down. The dead fronds were dropping (from 40 feet) in her yard causing quite a bit of damage. When she saw my "for sale" sign go up, she called me and showed me her patio area. It was obvious that if one of those fronds were to hit someone they would end up being badly hurt.
I sent an e-mail to the asset manager about this issue and made sure I sprinkled a few words such as "damage" and "liability" and poof ... two weeks later the palm tree was gone.
If I had a dispute with a neighbor and one day found their home vacant, would I try to take care of an issue while the bank was in possession? You bet. Wouldn't you?
Comments(37)