Woman's Parrot Taken, House Ransacked by Bank of America in Foreclosure Mix-Up

  • Thread starter Evo
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In summary: This seems like a really bad business model to me.In summary, a woman's home was ransacked by bank workers after her home was wrongly targeted for foreclosure. The woman is suing the bank for the kidnapping of her bird.
  • #1
Evo
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I can't imagine coming home to such a situation. The bank orders a company to destroy the homes of people that are foreclosed on?

Woman loses parrot, has house ransacked by Bank of America in mortgage foreclosure mix-up: lawsuit

Bank of America is apologizing for taking a woman's home - and her pet bird - after wrongly targeting her for foreclosure.

For Angela Iannelli, 46, that's not enough.

She filed suit this week over what she considers the kidnapping of her beloved parrot Luke in a mortgage mixup last October. The Gibsonia, Pa., woman came home to find her house ransacked and the bird missing.

"I found a feather outside the house, so I knew something was wrong," she said. "When I went to the front door, it was padlocked."

Bank of America had wrongly hired a local company to foreclose on the home, and workers for Snyder Property Services broke in, grabbed the bird and tore up the house, her suit says. Iannelli was not behind on her payments, and her house was wrongly targeted.
continued...

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2010/03/11/2010-03-11_womans_parrot_taken_house_ransacked_by_bank_of_america_in_foreclosure_mixup.html
 
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  • #2
I guess that's one way of delaying the bank foreclosing on your house----

keep putting your neighbor's address down on all of the dealings with bank doing the foreclosing...
 
  • #3
Yikes! Even if it was the right house, what purpose does it serve to tear it apart? That just makes it harder to sell to someone else. And people keep saying it's the previous homeowners who tear up the place, out of spite...what if it has been the banks' henchmen doing it all along?! :eek:

In this case, where it was also the wrong house, I think they should be brought up on CRIMINAL charges for breaking and entering, robbery, theft, vandalism, animal abuse, and anything else they can think of to throw at them.

And I sure hope she's already refinanced with another lender!
 
  • #4
What type of company does house foreclosures?
 
  • #5
Moonbear said:
And people keep saying it's the previous homeowners who tear up the place, out of spite...what if it has been the banks' henchmen doing it all along?! :eek:

No kidding!
 
  • #6
Well whoever BofA contracted that job to is sure going to be in for it :rofl:
 
  • #7
Moonbear said:
Yikes! Even if it was the right house, what purpose does it serve to tear it apart? That just makes it harder to sell to someone else. And people keep saying it's the previous homeowners who tear up the place, out of spite...what if it has been the banks' henchmen doing it all along?! :eek:

In this case, where it was also the wrong house, I think they should be brought up on CRIMINAL charges for breaking and entering, robbery, theft, vandalism, animal abuse, and anything else they can think of to throw at them.

And I sure hope she's already refinanced with another lender!
Can you imagine coming home, your house ransacked, Ember missing and your home padlocked? Definitely criminal charges. And compensation for what this poor woman went through.
 
  • #8
Evo said:
Can you imagine coming home, your house ransacked, Ember missing .

Hmmmmm, coming home and finding that the cats are all gone... thinking...thinking...maybe defaulting on a loan isn't such a bad idea!
 
  • #9
I've had bad experiences with Bank of America...very poor customer service.

I'm glad she got her parrot back...but it took a week!
 
  • #10
Hey, BoA henchmen need jobs too in this tough economy!

I'd pop a few caps if I found my home padlocked shut.
 
  • #11
Unbelievable! I guess these are the thugs:

Snyder Property Services
http://www.snyderpropertyservices.com/

I don't see kidnapping and ransacking listed among their services.
 
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  • #12
Count me amongst the people who doesn't understand the point of damaging a home that you're foreclosing on. It's certainly not acting in one's own best interest.

But. If I came home one day and the bank or someone associated with it had made off with my cat, it certainly would not take anything even close to a week for that cat to be back with me, and there'd be hell to pay way, way beyond an apology.
 
  • #13
GeorginaS said:
Count me amongst the people who doesn't understand the point of damaging a home that you're foreclosing on. It's certainly not acting in one's own best interest.

But. If I came home one day and the bank or someone associated with it had made off with my cat, it certainly would not take anything even close to a week for that cat to be back with me, and there'd be hell to pay way, way beyond an apology.

The banks wouldn't damage a home that they are foreclosing on. For the most part no one from the big banks has even seen the home.

Banks hire private companies to clean out and fix up most of the homes. Apparently this company does the damage also.:rolleyes: Then they get paid to repair it.

The economy has spurred a whole new service sector.
 
  • #14
MotoH said:
I'd pop a few caps if I found my home padlocked shut.

With you and Georgina on that. There would be serious bloodshed.
 
  • #15
Danger said:
With you and Georgina on that. There would be serious bloodshed.

Yes, but, you know? If someone took my little girl, they'd get hurt.
 
  • #16
GeorginaS said:
Yes, but, you know? If someone took my little girl, they'd get hurt.

Yes, I do know. I'm still waiting for the one identified person of the group who ransacked my house while I was living with W to return to town and be introduced to my pruning shears.
 
  • #17
edward said:
The banks wouldn't damage a home that they are foreclosing on. For the most part no one from the big banks has even seen the home.

Banks hire private companies to clean out and fix up most of the homes. Apparently this company does the damage also.:rolleyes: Then they get paid to repair it.

The economy has spurred a whole new service sector.

Really, edward? That's awfully close to a protection racket, isn't it?
 
  • #18
Bank of America= Supreme badass
 
  • #19
GeorginaS said:
Really, edward? That's awfully close to a protection racket, isn't it?

The big banks are far removed from the forclosure process. An individuals home is just another number on a computer screen.

Recontrust does a lot of foreclosures on BOA properties. Recontrust is now actually a subsidiary of BOA. It formerly was owned by Countrywide until Countrywide was bought by BOA. I still can't figure out why BOA would buy a million bad loans.

http://www.recontrust.com/

Click on the recontrust link, then click on a state, then a county if you wish.. The number of properties on the lists are just the forcloseures that will be auctioned in the next thirty days!
 
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  • #20
I suspect the house was trashed in order to reduce the assessed value and thereby reducing the property taxes paid by the bank. IBM and other large companies have closed office buildings and facilities, and then removed utilities, e.g., water, electrical, etc, in order to reduce the value of the properties.

It's all about one's bottom line, not what is best for the overall economy and community.
 
  • #21
And to think, America's Bank all began with the son of immigrants in San Francisco named Amadeo Giannini
 
  • #22
MotoH said:
Hey, BoA henchmen need jobs too in this tough economy!

I'd pop a few caps if I found my home padlocked shut.

GeorginaS said:
Count me amongst the people who doesn't understand the point of damaging a home that you're foreclosing on. It's certainly not acting in one's own best interest.

But. If I came home one day and the bank or someone associated with it had made off with my cat, it certainly would not take anything even close to a week for that cat to be back with me, and there'd be hell to pay way, way beyond an apology.

Danger said:
With you and Georgina on that. There would be serious bloodshed.

GeorginaS said:
Yes, but, you know? If someone took my little girl, they'd get hurt.

I'm in complete agreement! If anyone dared touch my Ember, I'm pretty sure I'd take my chances of going to jail over what I'd have to do to the person who took her. And if someone ransacked my house, I would find the best lawyers possible to guarantee that when it was all over, I'd be the one owning THEIR house.
 
  • #23
While not wishing to defend BoA an earlier report had it slightly differently.
The contractor had been told the house was abandoned, they disconnected the power but were unable to turn off the water so they cut the line and blocked the pipe.
The vandelism, the owner alleged - consisted of them pouring antifreeze into all the drains. Not unreasonable in winter.
They took and kept the parrot because they thought it had been left behind
 
  • #24
mgb_phys said:
While not wishing to defend BoA an earlier report had it slightly differently.
The contractor had been told the house was abandoned, they disconnected the power but were unable to turn off the water so they cut the line and blocked the pipe.
The vandelism, the owner alleged - consisted of them pouring antifreeze into all the drains. Not unreasonable in winter.
They took and kept the parrot because they thought it had been left behind
It seems it was more than just that. It also took them 6 weeks to do the repairs.

Iannelli, 46, is suing the bank, noting in court papers the serious destruction done to her house, including "cutting various water lines and electric wiring, damaging plaintiff's furnishings and carpets."

The article also lists other wrong foreclosures.

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/bank-amer...epossessing-home-taking-pet/story?id=10071658
 
  • #25
It isn't the company that was hired to prepare the homes fault, it is banks fault for foreclosing on the wrong house.
 
  • #26
MotoH said:
It isn't the company that was hired to prepare the homes fault, it is banks fault for foreclosing on the wrong house.

It's both. The bank is at fault for sending them to the wrong home, but if that company that went to the house did more than shut off the utilities and lock the door (i.e., rip up wiring and carpets and damage furniture), then they are also at fault for the damages they caused that are beyond the ordinary. I don't even know why they would have needed to cut pipes to turn off water...if they could turn the water off to cap a pipe, then they could turn the water off. Or call the utility to turn it off at the street if service was being disconnected.
 

1. What happened in the "Woman's Parrot Taken, House Ransacked by Bank of America in Foreclosure Mix-Up" situation?

In 2011, an elderly woman's home was mistakenly foreclosed on by Bank of America, resulting in her belongings being taken, including her beloved pet parrot. When the woman returned from a trip, she found her home ransacked and her parrot missing.

2. How did Bank of America mistakenly foreclose on the woman's home?

According to the woman, she had never missed a mortgage payment, but Bank of America claimed that she did not have enough insurance on her home. The bank proceeded with the foreclosure process without properly verifying the information.

3. Were the woman's belongings and parrot returned to her?

Yes, after the story gained widespread attention and media coverage, Bank of America returned the woman's belongings and her parrot, although the bird was reportedly traumatized and passed away a few weeks later.

4. Has Bank of America faced any consequences for their mistake?

The woman filed a lawsuit against Bank of America and was awarded a settlement of $5,000. However, the bank did not face any significant consequences for their mistake and continued to face similar controversies in the following years.

5. How common are cases of mistaken foreclosures by banks?

While there is no exact number, there have been numerous cases of mistaken foreclosures by banks, often due to errors or lack of proper verification of information. These cases can result in severe consequences for homeowners, including the loss of their homes and belongings.

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