Banks have noticed a rather significant problem when they foreclose on homeowners.
More and more of the homes are being trashed by the owners before they move out.
Banks are now fighting back in an odd way.
They are offering cash to owners that move out peacefully.
The foreclosure situation is such that there are a lot of unhappy parties.
Most homeowners, for instance, don't even know who own their mortgages.
The lack of personal touch leaves many people incredibly frustrated.
Given the impersonal nature of the situation, foreclosed upon individuals go for revenge and trash the homes on the way out.
There are different types of damage being done.
The classic is to let the pets into the home.
They eat and need somewhere to defecate.
You guessed it.
In the home.
At a minimum, the carpets need to be replaced and it can take time for the smell to go away.
Another classic damage strategy involves water abuse.
People plug up the drains, turn on the water and head out the door.
As the water overflows, nobody really notices for a day or so.
This effectively ruins the carpets, ceilings between floors and so on.
In short, it is a mess.
Some lenders are taking a very unique approach to deal with the situation.
They are now offering the homeowners cold, hard cash not to trash the home when moving out.
The payments range between a couple hundred bucks to significantly more depending on the home and the area.
Certain experts have opined that the real estate market in the United States has been completely out of control for many years.
If ever there was proof of this opinion, it is this situation.
Think about it for a minute.
Lenders are paying homeowners who have defaulted on mortgage loans to move out of the property without damaging it.
That single sentence and what it represents should just about give you a pounding headache.
It certainly is an indication of the mess we see in the housing markets.