What is up with BofA taping a notice that a home is vacant on the front door? 

I am constantly pulling this notice off my listings. 

Yesterday had to take the cake though.  I was driving by one of my listings where we are scheduled to close next week.  I know the tenants had movers scheduled for THAT DAY, and as I drove by in the early evening I notice one of those vacancy notifications is taped to the front door.  Are you serious? 

What are they stalking homes now?

They know the home is a short sale and in escrow.  There is no notice of default even filed on the property and they come around and tape a vacancy notice on the front door the DAY the tenant moves out?  This is ridiculous and dangerous. 

Why serve it up on a platter for people who are up to no good?  Folks looking for a house to crash should at least have to get out of their car and hunt around a bit, like the BofA house stalkers.

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90% of the time, it is not B of A who is actually posting the notices...it is a 3rd party asset management company hired by them to protect the asset.  They go around changing locks and then charging either the lender or charging the costs thru title for the changing of the locks.  There should be a phone number on the notice for the management company.  The notices usually stipulate an amount of time before the locks are changed.  Call them, tell them who you are and tell them that the home in not vacant and that it is scheduled to close and that B  of A is aware of this and they will stop.  Good Luck

Now I haven't ever had the locks changed on my listings yet.  I don't remember reading that on the notices I've seen out here.  Maybe each preservation company handles it differently.

I think I would be furious if that happened. 

Tni -

 

Just had locks changed on me. I called preservation company and they gave me the combo code to their lock to get a key.

 

Thom

 

Well I guess you should be happy just to have a key.  Nevermind that the bank now has a key to the house, and you really can't control who has access.

What happens if someone then vandalizes the home or removes fixtures without any sign of forced entry?   Who is responsible for that once the locks are changed and a 3rd party now has a key to the home?

These are generally (always) a Property Preservation the Servicer has hired.

Tni -

That's being done by the Property Preservation company hired by BofA.  They have probably been observing the property for several months and its the time ot start "tagging" the property. 

Here's what I do.  I take the bank signs down and replace it with my own sign that states;  This property is NOT Vacant and is being managed by TCP Services who can be reached at 888-391-5245.  Please do not disturb occupants.  I make sure one of my signs is on each of the 4 outside walls and the garage door (if detached)

 

It seems to work.

 

Good luck !

 

Thom Colby

Broker

Newport Beach & Palm Desert CA

Hi Thom -

The property is vacant and I don't manage any properties.... so that won't work for me though. 

And, I just think posting anything on a home is a red flag that it is vacant.  Most people don't leave notices posted on their houses.  I also thought the speed of the tagging was lightning quick here. 

They moved out that morning!

Good advice though and probably will help where folks are getting locked out of their own properties.  I haven't experienced that yet... but I'm sure I will down the line.

Tni

 

 

I agree - posting anything on a house is not good but sometimes it's the only way to combat an aggressive REO Broker.  I don't "manage" any properties either unless it's my listing and of course we all manage our own listings.  Remember, it's typically a local REO agent that has been assigned the property long before it is vacated or foreclosed and they are hovering over that property just waiting for activity so they can grab it.  They probably noticed your client getting ready to move and tagged the property for the bank. 

It's kind of creepy, especially since there isn't even a Notice of Default filed on the property.

I wish I could catch them doing it, so I could heckle them and rip the notice off while they were watching....  it would bring me a little satisfaction at least.  :-)

Good point. I've had banks lock homeowners out - I'm surprised that nobody takes trespassing seriously when it comes to banks.  The servicers pay others to winterize and change locks.  My guess is that they are paid by the number of places they "do" and they are constantly looking over lists of properties to "do" so they get paid.

Why the notice? I'm sure some legislative pinhead thought it would discourage people from breaking in to have a notice saying it is unlawful to break in.  You know, like taking an oath of office keeps a politician from robbing the taxpayer blind.  ;-)

Like "this is a drug free area" meanings drugs are here and, as I heard a question on a show, the town put up signs saying watch out for pickpockets but instead of the problem decreasing it increased - why?  (Because when people saw the sign, they instinctively reached to check for their wallets and all the pickpockets could see exactly where the loot was.)

Hi Joe,

I love your examples.  And, yes these postings make no sense, they cause more problems.

Changing locks before they take the property back is just ridiculous -- I thought the signs were bad -- but I guess it gets worse.

Tni

 

Wow!  I thought I was the only one that felt this way.  I have a property that has been approved to do a short sale (and in fact have an offer under review since February which more than meets their minimum net still no answer)  however, I had the very same experience last week went to check on the property and lo and behold there is this vacancy notice on the door  PLUS they would be rekeying the property changing locks etc..  I called BOFA about it and asked why in the world did you people place a vacany notice on the door?  Do you want the property to be vandalized?  The rep said it is our policy to check on our properties and to place notice when it's vacant.  I told her it's not your property furthermore the seller is participating in your FHA short sale and the seller does continue to maintain the property what is your problem? I also asked what is this nonsense about changing the locks?  She then said well if you are uncomfortable with the notice you can take it off.  Ok will do and when can we expect a response to our Short Sale offer submitted more than 2 months ago.....  ..Oh this is a different department we are property preservation and we don't have access to that information. My comment was 'oh so your departments don't communicate?'  Conversation ended very quickly thereafter.

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