question about foreclosure

[tigerman]

What can you actually take from your house after its been foreclosed on? It was a foreclosed home when we bought it and it had nothing in it, no light fixtures, appliances, heating & air unit, etc. I've been told if its fixed to the home you cant take it, the previous owner sure as hell took everything we he moved out. We are renting the home from the bank while they try and sell it and I told them what I was taking and broker said I couldnt take everything....I think this site is great and just wanted to hear from some of you......I'm looking at it like screw them, none of this stuff was there when I moved in and I didnt finance this stuff with the bank so I should be able to take anything I installed after I bought it.

[justbroke]

Fixtures, those things attached to the home, are generally considered part of the home. I would never advocate "stripping" the home, but it is something that you are aware happens. I think it's okay to take Washer/Dryer, Refrigerator, and maybe stove and dishwasher. Everything else is secured (attached) to the house. I would not take fixtures unless you, say, replace the expensive chandelier that you purchased with a standard "cheap" fixture.

For me, I wouldn't take any of those things that are attached. I would review your State and local laws on stripping a foreclosed home. If you strip it after the sale, it could be seen as theft. So, with the way you worded your posting, it could probably be considered theft to strip a home after it has already been sold to someone else. Will a bank (or new owner) go after you? I do not know. I do know that foreclosure stripping is a serious problem here in Florida. A friend of mine had his foreclosed home stripped by his daughter! While the bank never did anything other than file a claim, I can't say what the bank's rights were. (They stripped everything including cabinets, faucets and fixtures, A/C... just about anything.)

[AngelinaCat]

I agree with JB; anything that was in the home when you acquired it--yes, I understand that it was a foreclosed home--needs to be left in it. If you supplied the stove, refrigerator, washer/dryer, etc., and you can produce receipts for those, then yes, they are yours. If you installed a ceiling fan, where once was only a ceiling light, that is probably a 'wobbler'. Replace the ceiling fan/light with a light and you should be okay.

Do you have any attorney to advise you about these things?

[bcohen]

If it's true that you supplied all of the appliances, then yes I would take them. Stoves, refrigerators, clothes washers, and dryers are easy to resell, and are not legally part of the house.

However, I would NOT take the furnace/air conditioning unit unless it is a packaged unit (i.e. a self-contained unit that's typically installed on the roof) because the damage that would be done to remove it would FAR exceed the pittance you could get for it. If it is a split system, I would leave it, even if you can provide proof that you paid for it, and have a legal right to take it. The next homeowner would have to pay $6000 or more, and you'd get maybe $50 for scrap.

I see all the time people selling used (read: stripped from a foreclosed or soon-to-be-foreclosed house) furnaces, condensers, and A-coils on Craigslist, and they keep posting the same ad again and again and again. Why's that? Because no one is dumb enough to buy that kind of equipment used for more than the scrap value, which isn't much. There is no way to test such a unit after the homeowner (or thief) stripped it off of a house, and it would cost a lot of money to pay someone to install it, evacuate the system, charge with refrigerant, etc. No one is going to take that kind of gamble on used equipment.

People will, however, buy used package units, because they do not have to be installed in order to test. You simply hook up 208/230 v to the contactor, and jumper the control wires to test-run the unit. Also, removing a package unit does not cause significant damage to the house, as long as the duct openings are capped with sheet metal to prevent rain from leaking in.

Light fixtures or ceiling fans, I wouldn't take either, because they simply aren't worth much used. Aside from screwing over whoever purchases the house, you won't accomplish much by taking the light fixtures and ceiling fans. I'd be amazed if you get more than $50 for all of the light fixtures and ceiling fans in a house, put together. But the next homeowner will have to pay hundreds or even thousands to replace them all.

And don't even think about taking things like faucets, sinks, and toilets. No one will pay for these kind of things used. The only reason people remove them is out of spite.

[tigerman]

Thanks for the replys, 1st let me say I don't plan on stripping the house bare and selling everything, I'm not selling nothing. Main thing for me are the appliances, broker told me that the only thing I could take was the frig and freezer and nothing else but I'm taking the rest anyway. I removed all light fixtures and replaced them with some really cheap ones but like i said there wasn't nothing there to begin with so at least I'm leaving something. I'm not taking any cabinets or anything like that although I would like to take the geothermal system I had installed but I'm not going to. I'm not stripping the house to sell stuff and make money....I will say this the rent is a hell of a lot cheaper than the mortgage payment was on this house...lol