Americans continue to entertain a dangerous fantasy…the fantasy that you should feel safe and secure within your home. But this is a fantasy because the banks have decided that they have the right to come to any door in America, make their own determination of whether the home is vacant or abandoned, then change the locks and do whatever they want with the personal property that is inside that home.
It’s time for all Americans and especially judges, lawmakers and law enforcement to wake up and understand just how serious and profound these violations of basic American rights are. The tactics used by these companies are nothing short of mafia-style debt collecting. Just think about it. If your credit card company showed up at your door with a sledgehammer and began battering down your door as a way to get your attention about your outstanding credit card bill, do you think that might violate state and federal debt collection laws? So why should the banks be permitted to do the very same thing as part of their efforts to collect the mortgages on properties all across this country?
But the kicking down the doors, changing locks and taking property is only the first part of the whole stinking, criminal enterprise. Another huge element of the systemic violations of basic consumer protection laws is the fact that a key component of the “preservation” industry is bidding for and completing “contracting” work as specifically defined by Florida Statutes. Just think of it. The banks committing widespread, systemic violations of the laws that are designed to protect consumers…why? Because hiring licensed contractors to do this work costs more than paying unlicensed, unregulated, unqualified thugs to do work costs less money.
All of this is just in its infancy….I’m just now fleshing all this out. For now though, please read the following review of this book that deals with just one component of this massive crime spree…it’s required reading for all of us in this space:
As a freelance writer often in need of money, Reyes frequently helped his father “trash out” foreclosed homes in Florida. Trashing out was what they called “erasing all traces of whoever lived there, dispensing with both their physical presence and the ugly aura of eviction.” Before the housing crisis, trashing out gave Reyes a small but steady supplement to his income. But after, Reyes decided to use the experience as a way to examine the crisis and its impact on the lives of ordinary people. He becomes involved with many who had lost their homes, and some who are offering assistance, and follows up on them as they try to rebuild their lives. Many had been subprime borrowers duped by unscrupulous lenders, lost their jobs, and accrued too much debt, and their stories, often best revealed by the desperate detritus left behind, form the spine of Reyes’s powerful book. The author also tells his father’s story, and the typicality of this immigrant’s tale supports, rather than weakens, the larger point. His impressive effort stands as a wrenching chronicle of our new hard times.
