When I read this I just had to laugh, the banks hired these companies and knew full well what they were doing, but once again, they get there fingers caught in the cookie jar and try to cry foul. I think its time to start with banks and servicers and brokers all being tested before being allowed to do anything in the housing industry.
Alot of these homes were stripped down to the copper pipes , loss of furnaces , plumbing, and electrical elements, and blamed the homeowners , when in fact it was the home inspectors the banks themselves hired. The banks are responsible for this as well , and money should be funded back to homeowners they have frauded in this new mess they created.
FYI- I talked to one of these home inspectors from Bennington, VT and he informed me he just had gotten out of a 5 year jail sentence and the only job he could find. He also stated that if he takes all the houses thrown to him he can make close to 8000 plus a month. He goes all over Mass, VT, NH . All you need is a computer and camera , and they send him a list of homes , how nice .
Foreclosure Industry Says It'll Do A Better Job Of Screening Its Workers After Widespread Break-Ins
After hundreds of lawsuits and thousands of complaints,
banks are finally pushing for reform in one of the darkest corners of
the housing market. Under new guidelines expected to be adopted this
year by most of the industry, the workers that watch over millions of
homes in default or foreclosure will be subject to heightened levels of
background checks.
The measures are meant to screen out people convicted of a criminal
offense, such as theft or fraud. They follow widespread allegations,
first reported by The Huffington Post,
that the handymen and home inspectors that banks hire to look after
vacant properties are breaking into still-occupied homes, and looting
them of valuables. Some of these people, who work indirectly for the
banks through a web of contracting companies, have lengthy criminal
records.
"The intent is to give communities a high level of confidence that
the people walking around in homes are not going to cause problems,"
said Eric Miller, the executive director of the National Association of
Mortgage Field Services, the trade association that helped design the
new standards.
The new screening requirements mark the most significant effort by
the mortgage industry to date to crack down on abuses that have resulted
in a wave of unflattering media coverage,
hundreds of consumer lawsuits and a
case brought by the Illinois attorney general against Safeguard Properties, the biggest player in the industry.
HuffPost's investigation last year found that most of the break-in
complaints involve homes that are in some stage of default or
foreclosure, but still in legal possession of the occupants. In many
instances, contractors stand accused of ignoring obvious signs of
habitation, kicking down doors and crawling through basement windows in
order to gain access, then changing the locks. In some cases, they are
also accused of helping themselves to valuables found inside. One
contractor working for Safeguard Properties in Arkansas is accused of
looting a home of paintings and other valuables. A Connecticut woman
claims another one of these workers stole her son's piggy bank.
It's not clear how often contractors accused of such thefts also have
a criminal record, though sources within the industry say people with
checkered pasts are drawn to the work, which often requires little
training or special skills. While there is no data to show whether these
people are more likely to commit abuses than others in the industry,
background searches of individuals named in several consumer cases
alleging break-ins and thefts revealed lengthy criminal pasts.
In one case, in Florida, a contractor arrested previously at least six times on felony charges
is accused of taking a laptop computer and other items from a vacation home.
According to a police report, the contractor, who was working
indirectly for CoreLogic, a company based in Westlake, Texas, denied the
allegations, even though his fingerprints were found on a can of beer
left open on a counter in the home.
At the forefront of the push for new oversight is Wells Fargo, which
recently began requiring its contractors to have "a satisfactory
background check in place" before performing any work on its properties,
according to a spokesman. Several companies that work for Wells Fargo,
including Mortgage Contracting Services, based in Plano, Texas, have
already alerted subcontractors and other workers that they are expected
to comply with the new guidelines by the end of January.
In an email, a Wells Fargo spokesman said the change in policy came in response to "a lot of scrutiny around this issue."
The guidelines allow for different levels of scrutiny, though the
companies adopting the policies haven't yet said which workers would be
subject to the most intensive screenings. Miller said the aim was to
prevent contractors with recent criminal convictions from stepping onto a
property, a standard that would apply even to the low-paid workers who
mow lawns.
Seven of the biggest foreclosure contracting companies that deal
directly with banks have said they will adopt the heightened screening
rules, Miller said. "We are seeking to professionalize our workforce,"
he said.
Bret Douglas, who owns Team Ironclad Preservation with 25 employees
near Daytona Beach, Fla., said he understands the reasoning behind the
heightened screening requirements, but said he is confused by the new
guidelines. It isn't clear, he said, whether employees with criminal
records could still perform basic maintenance work.
Douglas said he objects to the cost of the background checks -- $65
each -- and the presumption that someone who has committed a crime in
the past should not be permitted an opportunity at redemption.
"If they did the crime and served the time, I say they should be
given a second chance," he said. Several workers on his crew have
criminal records, he said, adding that it is difficult to find adults
willing to mow lawns in the hot Florida sun who don't have spotty pasts.
Also still unknown is how aggressively the mortgage companies will
enforce the new standards. In the past, banks largely deferred to the
contractors they hired to oversee themselves, a strategy that hasn't
proved particularly effective.
That's because the contracting companies have often brushed off
accusations that they are failing to supervise their workers. Safeguard
Properties, which has attracted the majority of complaints, says it has
required background checks for years.
At an industry conference in October, Safeguard founder Robert Klein
signaled that stepped-up scrutiny wouldn't be welcome. Safeguard, he
said, "has been monitoring itself for quite awhile."
"Complaints are going to happen," Klein said at the conference. "It is the habit of people, they love to complain."
