They didn’t steal anything. The banks did chose not file claims in time
In order for the statute of limitations to apply, the Banks must have waited for more than six years from the date of the last mortgage payment to even file a lawsuit. Even a single payment restarts the running of the statute of limitations.
She used a lawyer to finesse the law instead of making good faith payments ($1300 mortgage vs. $500/month for the lawyer). It doesn’t make her right. She stole the house.
I read the article and I think she was capricious and disingenuous in her representation to the bank about any “deal” and she scammed them.
Regardless, now the banks won’t have to pay the property taxes (back taxes included) and insurance and this b!tch will lose the house.
The judicial process (in those states) has been s-l-o-w.
If the bank rules were changed so that the banks have to start writing down the asset-value of the loan if the payments are more then two months behind, then they would be faster to foreclose, and faster to sell the foreclosed house rather than keep it on the books and pretend it still had full value.
I suspect that, in many cases, the homes were underwater and the banks made a calculated decision that it was better to have a delinquent borrower at least paying upkeep on the property.
Banks, just like borrowers, will sometimes choose to just walk away from underwater properties. There are whole neighborhoods in the Mon Valley like this. Detroit is actually paying to demolish these type of homes.
If you live in an area where homes sell with relative ease, it would not be wise to try this. The lender will foreclose on you just as soon as they are able to do so and the home will belong to someone else within a matter of weeks, tops.
The banks created money out of thin air for homebuyers (frational reserve)