Quantcast
MobileRJ | RSS TwitterTwitter FacebookFacebook E-mail Alerts
Home manage Las Vegas Review-Journal
  Jobs Cars Homes Shopping Travel Weddings Golf Best of Las Vegas Photo   Search:

RECENT EDITIONS
Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun

sponsored by
Business
Apr. 23, 2008
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Official: Damage is loss of hope

Panel hears stories of sabotage of homes

By BRENDAN RILEY
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

CARSON CITY -- Some Nevadans who fall behind on their mortgages and face foreclosure are trashing the homes as they move out, a legislative study panel was told Tuesday.

Gail Burks of the Las Vegas-based Nevada Fair Housing Center said there's an increase in Southern Nevada borrowers who are giving up when faced with foreclosure and "are taking things out of the property, they're putting cement down the plumbing."

Most Popular Stories
  • Fraud with Portent
  • Debt-ridden casino operators told to expect pressure
  • Expect to pay at Nugget's new tower
  • REAL ESTATE: Las Vegas home prices stabilize as threat of foreclosure flood wanes
  • GAMING COMPANY EARNINGS: Station drops $455.4 million
  • THE STRIP: License approved for Aria
  • GLOBAL GAMING EXPO: Recession over? Don't bet on it
  • Foreclosure wave continues
  • Union wants insiders to help pull Station from bankruptcy
  • Airport suffers another decline




    • Burks also said she's seen an increase in violations of a new state law that's intended to block bogus real estate deals and ensure that borrowers can afford a home loan. She also said there are more cases of renters being forced from homes going through foreclosure.

    Consumers who try to refinance face a problem because of Nevada's status as a high-risk market, Burks said, adding that means a cut in the amount that can be borrowed atop an already reduced figure due to the decreased value of homes.

    Assemblyman Marcus Conklin, D-Las Vegas, the study subcommittee chairman, said destruction to homes shows a loss of hope among people who figure there's no way they can refinance their loans so that they can stay in their homes.

    "It's bad behavior compounded by more bad behavior," said Assemblyman Tom Grady, R-Yerington, a panel member.

    "It's not a new phenomenon," Conklin said after the hearing. "People are upset that they're losing their homes and on their way out say, 'Heck, burn it down.'"

    While Burks didn't provide the subcommittee with statistics on damage by people forced from homes, Michele Johnson of Las Vegas-based Consumer Credit Counseling Service had plenty of statistics on the severity of the mortgage crisis in Nevada.

    Johnson told the panel that 6.5 percent of about 574,000 home loans serviced in the state in the last quarter of 2007 were past due, up about 16 percent from the previous quarter. She added that foreclosure "starts" were up about 34 percent in the same period.

    In the case of subprime loans, Johnson said that of about 101,000 serviced in the last quarter of 2007 nearly 17 percent were past due -- and foreclosure starts were up about 43 percent.

    Newsvine Digg Fark Technorati reddit StumbleUpon del.icio.us Slashdot Propeller Mixx Furl Twitter MySpace Facebook Google Bookmarks Yahoo! Bookmarks Windows Live Favorites Ask MyStuff myAOL Favorites

    Leave Your Comment 7 Reader Comments
    Terms & Conditions
    The following comments are provided by readers and are the sole responsiblity of the authors. The reviewjournal.com does not review comments before publication nor guarantee their accuracy. By publishing a comment here you agree to abide by the comment policy. If you see a comment that violates the policy, please notify the web editor.

    Some comments may not display immediately due to an automatic filter. These comments will be reviewed within 48 hours. Please do not submit a comment more than once.
    Current Word Count:

    Note: Comments made by reporters and editors of the Las Vegas Review-Journal are presented with a yellow background.

    John wrote on April 23, 2008 08:02 PM: Low-class scum. even if it is "their" house, it really isn't (or the bank wouldn't be taking it back). This just illustrates the loss of class in US society. What kind of low-life does this?

    Even though Dennis is right in what he said, there were shady loan operators out there--but the old adage "buyer beware" still applies.

    It's sickening to hear that people act this way. No morals anymore.


    The Donald wrote on April 23, 2008 03:59 PM: It's not a crime to vandalize your own house! Until the foreclosure is completed in the courts, the house is still legally theirs. That's why they don't go after these fools. Cement in the pipes? That's a good one actually - ha! ha! Never thought of that.


    Dennis wrote on April 23, 2008 02:01 PM: Shame on the stupid people that signed on the dotted line for getting themselves into this mess. Start thinking for yourself - don't expect a bank exec to do it for you.


    John Jacobs wrote on April 23, 2008 01:48 PM: While some lenders who participated in predatory and questionable lending practices should accept part of the blame; ignorant borrowers who did not read the fine print regarding creative, adjustable rate, no down payment and other creative loans deserve blame as well. Both parties I have 0% sympathy for and both will have to live with the pain created along with the rest of us who's homes have and continue to lose value.

    I purchased a smaller home than I could have afforded and in doing that, paid cash; so however low the value of my own home goes, at least I have 100% equity in it.

    Those who damage their homes at foreclosure should be punished. Trashing houses seems quite typical of majority scum that inhabits this town.


    hello wrote on April 23, 2008 01:36 PM: Unfortunatly for the banking sectar this is all there fault. A quick remedy to stop all of this is to freeze the rate for 5 yrs. Take a look at it down the road. People had no problem making their motgage when it was fixed. Shame on the exec's that came up with these stupid loan programs.


    heidi wrote on April 23, 2008 09:35 AM: The bank should be going after these fools for "crimes against property" to recoup losses. Punish them to the full extent of the law. Blemish their records and make sure they can never "own" again.
    Then again, I guess this is what happens when a generation or two is raised with no sense of responsibility or accountability.


    paul wrote on April 23, 2008 07:39 AM: If you vandalize your house when you leave because you couldn't afford it, you deserved to lose it with that mentality.