Taking 'property' form house when leaving

[helpmeout]

We left our house Empty, took the sheds, Appliances, Kitchen sink, bathroom sinks and vanities, Ceiling fans, Light fixtures, Sold the HVAC for $400, Sold the hot water heater for $60, Sold the Deck and playhouse that we had built earlier, We even took the sat dish down. I figure whoever buys the house is going to re-do it all, So I figured we were doing them a favor as the emptier it is the better.

I did however cap all the plumbing and generally weatherize the house.

The bank is probably going to be able to come after you for the fixtures that you took. You are probably okay with the satellite dish and playhouse and possibly the shed but everything else is a fixture (with the exception of the fridge). And should have been left.

[AngelinaCatHub]

yes des, i do i want to reiterate my response to this thread.

what we took was indeed NOT attached to the house .no light fixtures or anything like that. we left the kitchen, oil burner (although brand new)...i even swept and the house was absolutely clean as could be... and washed all the floors etc. we took pictures of every room to make certain no one could get back to us and say this was ripped up or stripped. to this day, if i could have, we would have taken the shed, as it was not considered a permanent part of the structure in our township. neither was the spa we sold. anything taxable was not touched.

we did take our stove and frig, but they were old, paid for, and didn't come with the house when we purchased it, and we didn't have the money to replace them. we knew they had little or no value to anyone but us. additionally, they were NOT attached to the house.

when looking in this area to buy last year we saw stripped homes. and i mean stripped. the a/c units and ducks ripped out of the walls, the toilets, the sinks. one had the entire kitchen missing including the wall tiles. now that was destroyed! it was a mess. we saw many homes like that.

You did the right and moral thing, Tobee. I would do this out of respect for the house and the life we had in it. The Mortgage company did not cause a BK and is not responsible for lack of payments. Why punish them by will full destruction.

With the amount of empties we are getting, I am seeing more and more broken windows and lack of compressor units. It is a shame that people chose to steal other peoples property. Every scrap yard in our County requires a picture ID now when recycling metals. Most will not take copper that is obviously pieces of air units nor will they take catalytic converters.

I believe that these houses will one day either be razed or sold as a rebuild it yourself project. Some houses here are being used to party and dope smoke. 'Hub

[frogger]

Most will not take copper that is obviously pieces of air units nor will they take catalytic converters.

Perhaps not in your area, but in our area, the scrap yards are participants in the criminal activity. They will get your id, but they will also buy your scrap and crush it before anyone has a chance to id what you brought in.

The scrap yards in our area are just as guilty as the original thieves......

[tobee43]

hub, yes, we had many good memories in that house, it's simply not in our nature to destroy anything. i get upset when someone tears down a tree..LOL as you well know ;)
we wanted to leave with some respect and our dignity intact.

i do have to agree with frogger on what's happening down here anyway...approx 6 doors down there are two houses both in foreclosure. they are across the street from one another. one has been for sale for sometime. as rumor had it, the previous owners had ripped out the entire a/c unit. so, no one gave any mind to the fact that a air and heating repair truck was in the driveway for two days...........until when on patrol my dh who's the vp of the hoa and the president were doing a security check on the houses and found out they had been completely stripped within those two days from the people with that truck!!!!!!! no way of knowing what was going on, as the president was telling us the bank was working on the house to prepare it for selling purposes??? NOT!!!

they took everything, every last thing that was even nailed down. the kitchen cabinets, the FLOORS!!!!!!!! they pulled up all the titles!!! the carpet??? what is with these people.

unreal and very scary! this area usually has little to no crime. the consensus is that this was an "inside" job, someone in the area that knew the houses were vacate.

[etechjc]

Everything we took, we installed and payed for. House was a foreclosure when we purchased it. And there is no lowering of the property values, We lived out in the country on acreage. You could barely even see our house from the road. None of it matters, I was told that a week after the mortgage company supposedly secured the house squatters broke in, Lived there for about a week, vandalized everything and tore bunch of the plumbing and copper out of the walls.

[kingfisher]

Hmmmm. We installed central air after purchase. Can I have it professionally unhooked and move with it since we paid for that?

fk

[drowning123]

Wow, this is an interesting thread. When the time comes, I don't plan on taking anything even though I bought the stove, washer and dryer. I'd have nowhere to put them anyway, plus, actually, I want a true fresh start. I've even cleaned up the basement and the attic. I paid for stuff to be hauled away. I'm definitely not taking any furniture. They're old and I have a bedbug infestation. LOL. Seriously. I think they came with the furniture. I'm working on it. Those I'll leave for the new owners of the house. LOL. I'm literally walking away with my clothes and electronic items. I think I may want new kitchenware - pots, pans, dishes, etc.

[AngelinaCat]

I don't blame you for wanting a truly fresh new start!

Good wishes to you in everything you do.

[HHM]

Everything we took, we installed and payed for. House was a foreclosure when we purchased it. And there is no lowering of the property values, We lived out in the country on acreage. You could barely even see our house from the road. None of it matters, I was told that a week after the mortgage company supposedly secured the house squatters broke in, Lived there for about a week, vandalized everything and tore bunch of the plumbing and copper out of the walls.

It really just depends on the particulars. Generally, even if YOU were the one that afixed the item to the property, that item becomes part of the property in a pure legal sense. Will you have issues in the future, probably not. Strictly speaking, anything that is nailed, glued, or screwed to the home in some way becomes a fixture of the real property and loses its status as personal property. So removing things like sinks, vanities, or items required to make the house habital is problematic. Appliances are usually okay to remove, but cabinets, countertops, sinks etc., ususally not okay. Sheds: same issue, if affixed to a slab, not okay, if not and it is some sort of pre-fab builiding, it probably can be removed without consequence.

But there are grey areas: e.g. flat panel TV...is the wall mounted stand a fixture, probably not...it would be considered more like art work and can be removed.

[cory1848]

I plan on taking my appliances but I will replace them with "Stand ins" when I leave. Plenty of used crap on craigslist that is free for the taking if you offer to haul it away. Those make nice hole fillers. Then just say... "They worked when I left...."

My cabinets are coming with me as well. I had replaced the originals and kept them to use in the garage. When we do leave, I will put them back in the kitchen and take the good ones with us. I installed the good ones and I could have been down in about a half hour. Carpet and floors can all stay, I dont care about that anymore.

[AngelinaCatHub]

I have read the goods and the bads on this very informative thread. Here is my opinion and only MY opinion in which to date I have a right to state: Those who rape the houses that they lived in, for value they think they are entitled to, must live with themselves. Because a person spends money on an item to improve their lives such as Central Air, does not mean because you purchased it, affixed it to a home to improve your life, that ruining that home is right to do. Same with cabinets and appliances legally attached to the home, as HHM stated.

A new start means an honest start. Due to our system as set out in the beginning of our Country, a Christian/Judeo Country, and it's rule of law, allows us all a new start when we mess up, or circumstances mess us up. Why would anyone want more than to just get out and let the real thieves have that copper crap?

Have you learned what "Character" is? It is doing the right thing, when no one else is looking. Try that some time my friends, who wish to prosper in their Chapter 7 by stealing the estate. Remember, Karma. What you do now will come around in the same proportions to you. 'Hub

[DesdemonaB]

I was informed in late July my landlord is looking to downsize and moving back to their condo would be the perfect solution. They informed me that they will be going month to month on their current lease forcing me into a month to month on my. They will first try to find a home to purchase but if they can not find one in their time frame they will move back, leaving me with finding a new place to live.

With my recent discharge I know that I will not qualify for a mortgage anytime soon, so my mother has agreed to help by purchasing a home and enter into a land contract with me allowing me that count down time I need before I can apply of the loan. So for the last two weeks I have been searching realtor.com and last week I called on 6 properties, all foreclosures, 5 of the 6 properties were so gutted, trashed or damaged that they were cash only or financed via a 203K only.

I am not someone looking to rehab a home and flip it for profit, I am single parent who wants to put a roof over the heads of her kids. Is it too much to ask that you not take your angry out the next person looking to become homeowner?

Oh and while you are ripping apart that home ponder this: there is a min of a three year wait before you can apply of a FHA load - and correct me if I am wrong but that 3-year window starts from the date your name is off the title of your foreclosed home. The home that can't sell because you felt you were "owned" something so you trashed/gutted/destroyed/sold everything in the home.

I know not every homeowner trashes their foreclosures, but those who do/did I just think you don't have anything to be proud of.

[drowning123]

Simply stated - it just doesn't feel right. Cleaning is actually good. It's like getting rid of the past and welcoming the new debt-free future. I do understand your argument for taking the stuff, but I don't agree with it. Don't hang on to the past.

[ValleYum]

When we leave our house, I plan to take the refrigerator (we traded the previous owner for the fridge outside of the mortgage) as some rentals don't include refrigerators and if they do, having a second fridge would be handy for keeping soda cold and for holidays and houseguests.

I plan to un-hang my grandmother's mirror from my powder room. I will buy a replacement mirror at Wal-Mart or Goodwill to hang in there.

I do plan to remove the flat-screen mount from our bedroom wall since we hung it there and paid for it.

I don't plan on removing my central a/c unit (although we paid cash for it outside the mortgage) - I think the cost to have it professionally uninstalled would be prohibitive.

[dman]

Huge disclaimer, I'm not a lawyer!

While the house is still yours (i.e. until the sheriff's sale), then it's yours. There's a good chance you can take whatever you want and get away with it. A potential issue would be if the bank gets the house, then files an insurance claim for the damages; could turn into a case of technical insurance fraud (kinda like if you burn the house down, but admit to it...if you had it insured, it could turn into a problem). This may vary from state to state, may not be actually legal, etc. etc. But...one thing I've heard is...what if you were in the middle of a renovation? Then you had to file bankruptcy? Would you be liable for the unfinished work?

That said, once the house is out of your name (i.e. the bank buys it back), then it most definitely would be vandalism/theft/etc. if you take anything that was affixed to the house. Now, you could still take anything that you bought and paid for separately (i.e., if appliances didn't come with the house, then you can take 'em; if you installed a whole house generator after you bought the house, you can take it; if you installed a propane tank, it's yours). Bonus points if you have receipts for the items you bought separately (i.e. you bought the house in May 2000, and have a receipt for the propane tank for November 2000). Oh...and one more huge disclaimer...if you remove something like a propane tank, GET A PROFESSIONAL!