Owners Lose Possessions After Home Near Twentynine Palms Is Mistakenly Foreclosed

CBS-LA.com ^ | 5 Sep 2012 | Stef Riter

[Yashcheritsiy]

The owners of a modest home near Twentynine Palms lost their cherished possessions after a bank mistakenly foreclosed their residence.

A crew broke into Alvin and Pat Tjosaas’ desert home and took everything after being directed by Wells Fargo to secure the structure.

The couple, however, didn’t have a mortgage on the home.

Alvin said the deputy sheriff said, “Good news, we know who took (your possessions)…Wells Fargo. Bad news, your stuff is all gone.”

All the married couple has now are three generations of memories.

Alvin, a retired mason, built the home with his father when he was a teenager.

“I know every inch, every rock…my mom mixed all the cement by hand,” he said.

[Bobalu]

This is the sort of situation where it would be nice to have a good friend to help you out...

[sauropod]

Wells Fargo is evil! I will never do business with them again under any circumstances.

[Wiser now]

Probably autioned off at a storage facility.

[LauraJean]

He is one of my favorites in Breaking Bad.

[CORedneck]

Seems like a vacation home. I am sure Outstanding Leader will tell these folks that a vacation is necessary, therefore the representatives of the state (bankers) were justified to break and enter and then vandalize.

[cripplecreek]

He is one of my favorites in Breaking Bad.

Not anymore.

[ArmstedFragg]

Nope: Criminal matters require intent. It’s pure civil.

[Vigilanteman]

I’ve always considered Bank of America (big donors to Obama and enablers of illegal aliens) to be the worst financial institution in America. Looks like they have serious competition now.

[justlurking]

Nope: Criminal matters require intent. It’s pure civil.

As I said, I'd start with that. It would be up to the bank to prove that it wasn't intentional.

Then, we would talk about settling for criminal negligence.

Eventually, we would start talking about money. But by then, they would know that they had better not screw with me again.

[CORedneck]

corrected

Seems like a vacation home. I am sure Outstanding Leader will tell these folks that a vacation home is NOTnecessary, therefore the representatives of the state (bankers) were justified to break and enter and then vandalize it.

[Jack Black]

I would have filed burglary, trespass, and vandalism charges against the contractors that stole everything.

Doesn't the DA have to charge people for crimes like this. As a citizen I don't think there is anyway you can "file" against someone for burglary. The DA has to take up your cause.

It's not clear that a mistake is really the same thing as a burglery. The contractor was doing a job in good faith. I think intention matters in law.

[InkStone]

We were customers of Wachovia Bank. Before the sign on their door even changed to Wells Fargo, we started getting lots of arm-twisting and rude phone calls pushing Wells Fargo products. No matter how many times we told them to stop calling, the intrusions continued. I finally lost my temper with a sales caller, and he shouted back “WE HAVE THE LEGAL RIGHT TO CALL YOU FOR THIRTY DAYS!”

When we cancelled our account, the manager came into the lobby and seemed personally offended, and gave us bloody hell for “... running out on him.”

I am amazed when I see such responses; this shows us how often an ego can push away something we most desire.

[eyeamok]

You absolutely can make a Citizens Arrest, furthermore the Police are Required to act upon it and either Arrest or issue Citation subsequent to a Citizens Arrest, then the DA will have the case and decide to file or not. The Mere fact that The entire Bunch of THIEVES, including the Banker’s that ordered this CRIME are not in Prison as we speak as well as having their Assets Seized should demonstrate to EVERYONE that The DA is as CORRUPT as the Day is Long, I will also include EVERY Police Officer in the CITY with this for not Arresting EVERYONE INVOLVED. Why anyone puts faith in these Thugs is beyond me. There is a pretty abundant amount of clear and convincing evidence to warrant wholesale arrests and prosecutions in this case, ignorance of the law is neither a defense nor an excuse in the State of California.

[justlurking]

Doesn't the DA have to charge people for crimes like this. As a citizen I don't think there is anyway you can "file" against someone for burglary. The DA has to take up your cause.

Yes, that's correct. I meant a "complaint". It would be up to the DA to file the charges.

It's not clear that a mistake is really the same thing as a burglery. The contractor was doing a job in good faith. I think intention matters in law.

The bank is claiming it was a mistake. Would you take their word for it, at this point?

As I noted to another poster, it would be up to the contractor (and bank) to prove it wasn't intentional. But, I would have made my point.

Then, we would start talking about negligence, and whether it was criminal or gross negligence.

By the time we started talking about damages, their culpability would be well-established.

[Noumenon]

Just think of it as the Obamunist regime’s idea of ‘reverse mortgage’.

[JRandomFreeper]

I leave the details of abuse to my lawyer. He jokes that you can find him by dialing 1-800-dial-a-bastard.

/johnny

[GonzoGOP]

You still have the DA file the charges. The key is changing the time element from favoring the bank to favoring the homeowners. The homeowners have their house trashed and unusable, their personal items lost, and they can't start repairs until a settlement is reached. The bank in contrast is sitting on the money from the sale of the stolen items. Their lawyers are on staff and unlike the homeowners who have to pay insane hourly rates or turn over 1/3rd of the value of their possessions to a lawyer tieing it up in court for years costs the bank nothing.

Put the bank manager under arrest and even when he gets out on bail he is going to want to clear his name. His bond will likely mean a nice lean on his home. The case now becomes just as personal for him as it is for the homeowners.

Finally criminal charges reverse the lawyer bill issue. The DA is being paid by the homeowner, in the form of taxes, regardless of if a case is pursued or not. Hence no additional charge to the homeowner. The banker and his contractors will need to hire their own lawyers, as lawyers specializing in criminal cases are usually not on staff at a bank.

The fastest and easiest way for the banker to clear the breaking and entry charge is in to admit in court that they acted with criminal negligence. Making a credible threat of criminal proceedings encourages the bank to write big checks, write them quickly and to do it with the minimal involvement of lawyers.

[chesley]

I don't (knock on wood) have a problem with my mortgage, but I keep getting dunned for a bill for some lady with the last same name. AS far as I can determine, this woman has NEVER lived at the house that I own.

I call, I straighten it out. Then, a couple of years later, I get a dun from some other collection agency.

Any FReepers that are lawyers out there? Answer this question. Can I safely ignore these notices” I'm tired of trying to make Indian telephone dun collectors, whom I can barely understand, get the point that they can whistle for their money as far as I am concerned.

[moehoward]

"Probably just a buncha deadbeats trying to get a house without paying a mortgage!!! /certain FReepers "

LOL!!! True, true.

[beethovenfan]

They should sue for 20 million dollars.