Personal Property Left in Repo Home I am listing?

Question

I have been selling real estate for fifteen years and do a lot of REO listings. I have one today that I accepted. The people that lost it are going thru divorce and the man is only staying there one or two days a week. Most of their stuff was already moved out. I was told to rekey the property, to disconnect their utilities if they were still on and put them back on in company name.
My question is- Do I need to track down these people and see if they are coming to get the rest of their things or should I hire someone to come in and haul it away. The furnishings and stuff inside is all junk, but there is Riding Lawn Mower and a semi Truck and tow truck in the yard. Does anyone know what the law says about personal property left at the home that was lost. I would love for them to come get the vehichles out of the yard and the lawn mower. On the other hand I do not want to let them back into the house to gather the rest of the junk because I am afraid they will damage it even more. Could I get in trouble somehow by having the interior cleaned up and trash hauled away or would that be like stealing property?
I searched the board and couldnt find anything on this. I have not had an REO in the past where they were still kind of living in the house. The only other ones I have gotten, they had left most of their stuff there when they moved and I hired someone to come and clean up and haul off.
I would appreciate any thoughts on this. I live in Louisiana and tried to look it up under state laws. The only thing I got out of that was if they had left their belongings because of war, death in family, or they were in hospital.
Thanks,
Athena

Answer 1

I'm also in LA. You didn't say how the property was repo'd. Did they abandoned all together or did the bank foreclose? Or both? It doesn't sound like the bank went through court proceedings or did they? I can't imagine if they told you to rekey the place that it hadn't been foreclosed on or at least dation back to the bank. Assuming the bank followed proper court proceedings, I would think that you would have legal authority to remove any property left at the time of possession. However, since the vehicles could be of some value and may or may not have been pledged as security to another creditor you might have some obligation to attempt to return that property.

The courts will always look at what the person's intent was at the time. If you rekeyed the place and he was still living there 2 or 3 days, he may not have meant to abandon it.

You really need to check with an attorney. Also study La. Civil Code 47 which defines what is abandonment and La. Civil Code 3418, et seq which goes into abandoned property and possession thereof.

Personally, I don't think you would have any problem removing the items on behalf of the bank but I would document, document, and document what you did or didn't do with it. You may also want to contact whatever law enforcement agency is in the area and have them stand by while you remove the property.

If you junked the junk, theoretically, the debtors could be held responsible for the cost of it's removal. You might consider selling whatever was saleable and either return it to the bank to settle the debtor's claim or put it in the registry of your local court in case they return and want to put a claim on it. As far as the vehicles are concerned the easiest thing to do would probably have them towed and let the tow company store the vehicles. After a particular length in time they would have the right to obtain title to them as payment.

That all sounds like a lot of work for a real estate agent. I would think someone at the bank should really need to assume the responsibility! The other question you probably want to ask yourself is the listing worth the trouble? That's just me.

What part of LA are you in? I am in Slidell and would be interested in the vehicles if they are in working condition. I can be reached at [e-mail]

Answer 2

If the bank has done it's job correctly and sent out the proper notices the current owners should be out of the property by now along with all the personal property they own.

About the vehicles you may call a local company to pick them up, place them in storage. The company will send notices to the last known address of the owners asking them to pick up the vehicles and pay the storage fee before they can pick them up. In most states if they are held for 30 days the Department of Motor Vehicles will issue a title in the name of the person that has the vehicle in storage. If you want they will charge you a modest fee and you can keep the vehicles and resell them.

I purchase foreclosures, people leave vehicles all the time, I resell them after the required waiting period is over. If you want them for yourself you have to store them, but the company would still do all the contact work with the DMV of your state.

If all it that remain is junk, I would take a picture of it pile it up in the garage, see if I could make contact with the owners by mail to the same address through registered mail for them to pick up the items, after which I would get rid of the stuff.

I hope this has been of some use to you, good luck.

"FIGHT ON"

Answer 3

By the time things get to the point where you go in and re-key the property these people have had months to get their things out. They've known the day was coming and have refused to take responsibility for their possessions for whatever reason. The bank that hired you has specific processes in place for these things and you are to do what they tell you. They own the property now so anything there is theirs. If they tell you to do a trash out then do it. If you know how to reach the people you might want to try to get them to take the stuff as it will be easier on you in the long run but if you can't find them easily then just hire somebody and get it done.

Answer 4

Try an attorney, laws vary from state to state