This story takes place in Jersey?!

Wow - proof that money can't buy class. But it apparently CAN buy a feces-infested mansion in Northern Jersey!

Since it was a forclosure home, I think he's stuck with it. He knew the conditions of the sale before he signed for it, too late now to back out.

Depending on the price.. he might be able to try turning around, hiring some damn good cleaners to scrub the place out, then sell it for a profit?

I guess the buyer kind of got screwed here, but it seems as if one should have to assume that kind of risk when buying on a foreclosure property. Especially if, like the article says, prospective buyers don't have the right to enter the house.

call those crime scene clean-up people. they are "use" to this sort of thing and will have all the tools to clean it up properly.

...but damn... what kind of fucked up people do this sort of thing to a house.

Michael Vick should be ordered to go clean up the house as part of the community service of his conviction.

@dave511: actually he COULD possibly have an out with the fact that he made legitimate attempts to view the house early and was rebuked by his neighborers who owned the house.

There are extreme case laws in some places, if he's lucky Jersey is one of them.

And this is why I am NOT going to buy a foreclosure house around here now.

Buying a foreclosure = caveat emptur. When I was searching for my house I considered getting a foreclosure but I know that I am not handy enough to repair a lot of things. Maybe now that so many homes are getting foreclosed because of the subprime fiasco there will be more normal ones but as a rule, they are probably going to be trashed.

Friends of ours were looking for a housing deal, and they looked at a lot of homes in foreclosure. They were universally ill-maintained and many were deliberately trashed by the owners to screw over their mortgage lender. Proceed with extreme caution. People who can't afford the mortgage aren't also affording repairs and maintenance, even if they aren't running an animal farm out of the basement.

I am not sure of the laws in NJ, but where I live. Bethlehem PA, your house MUST be inspected by the city inspectorbefore a sale can happen. Not in Jersery?

First of all, I hope those sick f***s who owned the house originally go to jail for that level of animal cruelty. That's just sick, sick, sick.

And apparently, people who are losing their homes due to foreclosure apparently do frequently abuse the home to "screw over" the mortgage company. They figure they have nothing left to lose. My co-worker told me about a home nearby that was foreclosed - the owners sprinkled pounds of birdseed all over the house, left all the windows open, and then moved out. There was so much bird crap etc. in that house after a week, I can't imagine what it took to clean it out again.

Not sure how trashing the house "screws over" the lender. If anything it may increase the amount of any deficiency judgment against the original owner.

What am I missing, aside from an understanding of the misplaced sense of retribution this must give deadbeats?

The question : HOW DID THESE CRAZY PEOPLE GOT A LOAN in the fist place?

Ouch, Ben - did you catch "step foot" disease from the Jezebel girls?

It's "set foot." Not step. Thank you.

@MonkeyMonk:

Yes! This is the correct response. Send Vick in there with a shovel.

Ha ha! I hope it was one of those 'We'll buy your house in ANY condition' idiots. Nothing makes me madder. It's like the perfect storm of amateurish advertising, poor ethics, and irresponsible fiscal policy al rolled into one.

What the hell -- wouldn't you at LEAST look in the damn window before buying a house sight unseen? Before spending $100K+ I can assure you I would do everything short of being convicted as a burglar or bothering the previous owners. No sympathy here.

$2.6 million, and he didn't even get close enough to smell the cat shit. This is one of the stories that they'll be telling years from now about the housing bubble.

I recently bought a forclosed home here in metro Detroit. The housing market is so incredibly bad here they are literally everywhere. I looked at quite a few foreclosures before I bought my home. All of them had already been vacated though so that may play in to my experience.

All of the homes were available for viewings and I never had a problem seeing one when I wanted to. I was able to check things out, get a home inspection and buy it just like a normal home.

As for people going through foreclosure trashing the house. That definitely happens. There were some nasty places that I looked at. Missing sinks, urine smells, trashed walls, and the best was the house where they took all of the carpeting out but left the nails in the floor. Yes they just ripped it out for some reason.

The only thing I can think of that would cause this behavoir is a "If I can't have it no one can" attitude.

Wait. Silly question. But doesn't the BANK foreclosing have a responsibiity to ensure that conditions are safe once the first owner has cleared out? Pets, this time. But kids, toxics, leaking gas, mimes...

That is, did the 100 pets die of neglect b/c the bank didn't have someone visually check the property before locking it up?

Poor guy, spent $2.6 million on a house, sight unseen. Now his housekeeper, kids, and dogs won't have that second 20 room mansion they've always dreamed of. I'll toss in a buck from my ramen fund just to help the poor guy out, just tell me where to send it.

Dead cats and dogs along with a rancid smell come standard with houses in North Jersey? What's the big surprise here?

//South Jersey resident

@iMike: I believe it's misplaced retribution coupled with the belief that if they trash the place, the bank won't get their money out of it. At least where my friends were concerned, when they got as far as making an offer, the bank was completely unwilling to negotiate on the purchase price, even though the home inspection uncovered serious issues. This was in NH. I'm sure the laws vary.

feces only 6-10 inches? call me when it reaches 24 inches and i'll give a damn.

Buying a foreclosure = kicking the back door in before bidding at the courthouse steps. Common practice among those who buy foreclosures on a regular basis. People who make this mistake are the ones who have been listening to Carlton Sheets too much.

you get what you pay for...

The guy sounded like he couldn't believe the owner didn't disclose to him the dead animals and feces. I myself am shocked that people who live like that wouldn't pay their mortgage.

Was this an auction? They don't let you look at it first, just purchase sight unseen? I hope he got one hell of a discount.

It's too bad the buyer didn't "smell a rat", when the seller wouldn't even let him view the place. I'm sure most sellers would be fairly proud and happy to allow a brief inspection.
I sure as hell would want see the dump first, and not buy an expensive "pig in a poke", as this guy did--I guess he had more money (or credit) than brains.

@King of the Wild Frontier: No kidding! There's such a thing as due diligence.

@gibsonic:
The phrase is "used" to, not "use" to. Also, crime scene clean-up crews do not exist everywhere (I saw the same Discovery documentary you did).

I doubt those people were intentionally trying to destroy the house. Look at the age of the people involved. The husband is 66 and the wife is 49. They're animal hoarders and the worst of the worst at that. Don't tell me none of you folks have seen Animal cops on Animal planet.

It's a psychological disorder that's a part of OCD. People keep obtaining pets, particularly dogs and cats, and they fail to take care of them properly. What makes it a disorder is the fact that the hoarders think they are adequately caring for their animals (unlike a fancier who does take good care of the animals). These people either don't have children or have waste of skin narcisscists for children. So they fill the void in their lives with dogs and cats, that don't get fixed, don't get vaccinated, don't have adequate food and water or sanitary conditions.

Animal hoarding happens alot more than you might think. There was a case in North Carolina where the ASPCA seized 300 animals.

North Jersey as in Hackensack, New Jersey. This only doesn't surprise me, but it tells me that New Jersey has just as much shit as New York - Home. Sweet. Home.