An investor bought a property for cash at a sheriff sale. But the former owner's lender kept coming to the home. First there was a notice on the door saying that the property was found to be vacant, and there could be a lock change and winterization soon. The sign recommended contacting the mortgage servicer. Of course, since this investor paid cash for the property, there was no mortgage servicer to call.
Since it was only a few days after the sheriff sale, he figured that it was a communication error that would be sort itself out quickly.
But apparently the lender had money to burn. Because a couple of weeks later, a truck pulls up to the property with a property preservation crew. They were hired by the lender to change the locks, drain down the pipes and winterize the plumbing system. Fortunately, the painters were there. Otherwise they might have found themselves locked out of their job. Of course, a property preservation crew would not remove any of the painters ladders or equipment, would they?
When the crew determined that their work order was a mistake on the part of the lender, they commented on how this was not unusual. So how is it that a bank that can track a customer's account to the nearest penny has trouble keeping track of houses? It's not like this was a few days after the sale. The property preservation crew showed up a few weeks later to work on a property that was owned by a cash buyer. The lender no longer had anything to do with this home.
It might be well for buyers at foreclosure auctions to be particularly vigilant in the weeks following the sale in case something like this might happen to their property.
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