Posted on 08/17/2012 7:08:31 AM PDT by Abiotic
In the age of Facebook and Twitter, a new crime has hit America: "Sharpie parties," gatherings of revelers armed with "Sharpie" magic markers and lured by social media invitations to wreak havoc on foreclosed homes.
Five years into the U.S. foreclosure crisis, Sharpie parties are a new form of blight on the landscape of boarded-up homes, brown lawns and abandoned streets. They are also the latest iteration of collective home-trashing spurred by social media.
At least six Sharpie parties were reported in one California county in recent months, where invitations posted online drew scores to foreclosed homes.
The partygoers are handed Sharpie pens on arrival by their hosts and urged to graffiti the walls - a destructive binge that often prompts other acts of vandalism, including smashing holes in walls and doors, flooding bathrooms and ripping up floors.
snip
(Excerpt) Read more at cnbc.com ...
The perception that banks get away with murder and are never suitably punished for any of their varied transgressions is no doubt a factor here. A bit of backstreet vigilante justice, it seems.
Banks can do what they want. Having said that, my guess is their policy in this case is turning frustrated young people into democrats better and faster then any leftist propaganda ever could. Conservative institutions when they behave this way do no one any favors. They deserve the highest criticism.
“Buy a bank. . .then you can run it any way you want.”
If all their “assets” were properly valued per accounting rules and law, one might find them quite inexpensive, if they remain open at all.
“Usually they leave the damage and just drop the price,” Krotic said.
We've been lead to believe that the younger generations are "tech savvy". Yes, they may know how to download apps, music, and text at blinding speed, but the current Pepsi Generation is no different from their predecessors-- still as dumb as a bag of rocks.
If you want four more years of this crap, an America in decline. Please make sure to vote for Obama or stay home on election day.
I am not against that.
I don’t know what these people think they are doing.
Vandalism is a crime, not a Social statement.
It generally depends on the amount and degree of fraud committed by the bank in the process of pursuing the foreclosure.
Humans sure can be feral now and then, huh?
What normal citizen would want to return this criminal government-by-children delinquents to power for another four years?
You may not like that kind of grassroots justice, but there are consequences when thugs and looters invade a neighborhood.
Suppose you owe $100K on a $250K house when you are laid off.
Suppose the bank then "loses" your next payment, and starts applying lots of fines and fees on your loan, and bumps the interest up, all while continuing to "lose" or misapply your payments. Now you owe $300K on that house and are foreclosed on and get nothing. And in some states you still what's left on the $300K bill after the bank sells your house in a sweetheart deal for $150K.
Banks can and do put figurative guns to peoples heads these days.
nakedcapitalism.com is a bit of a lefty site, but they do a good job with stories on such banking corruption. A search on the term 'fraudclosure' would also help with your education.
So while a lot of what the article describes is simple hooliganism, vandalism for the fun of it in this lawless age, there still is reason to be angry with the banks.
As far as your experience at a financial institution, you need to realize that your experience is one end of the scale, and Jon Corzine is at the other. There's a lot of corruption going on between the two ends.
I strongly disagree.
Knowing the cost and years of effort that went into buying and maintaining my home, having a mob destroy it might make me snap.
The appropriate response is a matter of collective decision by society, and the circumstances that trigger the decision. I can see it happening.
Why don't you run a test?
Publish your address on line, let the criminals trash it and let us know if your arrogant, holier-than-thou opinion changes.
As long as they don't sell, they keep the value on the books for the full mortgage amount plus some appreciation. Once they sell, they have to write it down.
Another test-case for the flash mobs that will cover the landscape in October.
They are carrying fraudulent value on their books. It is a scam all the way around.
“dunno what you said to me, but I know I dint like it.”
I got a first hand view of that issue recently, where decades of experience was ignored with predictable results, when a mentally-challenged woman was planned to be fired, was somehow informed the night before, and mysteriously the office was trashed that same night.
The perp was titularly the manager, but incompetent and inept, protected by "friends" higher up in management.
Unfortunately, there were no witnesses to the damage created, and the folks who first viewed the damage neglected to file a police report.
After November’s election,those liberals can go jump off that bridge.
You obviously can't grasp a foreclosed home is EMPTY and UNOCCUPIED. If you were still there in "your home," a sheriff's deputy would haul you off to jail. The indignation you express doesn't apply here, much less the inappropriateness of "shoot to kill" for vandalism.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.