Do original owners ever illegally move back into their foreclosed homes?

Question

I was looking at various foreclosed homes being sold at auction in my area and recognized a home that an acquaintance of mine had recently owned. I hadn't heard that they had lost the home or had moved, so I googled around and discovered that they lost the home to foreclosure and it was put up for the first auction in Sept. of 2013. The current MLS  and new auction listing have very strict warnings about not going onto the property  under any circumstances because it is occupied, and not to contact the occupants under penalty of law, etc. There are NO interior photos available and the listings state that no interior inspections will be available. How in the world will they ever sell this to anyone not otherwise familiar with the property then? Would a bank have rented out a foreclosed property to a tenant? Why couldn't they at least let a real estate agent in to at least photograph the inside of the property? (It was a very nice home when I saw it originally--and it is in a very nice neighborhood in a desirable part of the county.) Could these be hostile tenants or even the returning former owner illegally occupying the home?  Would any potential new owner be dealing with difficulties in evicting these occupants?

I asked a mutual friend if she  knew what had happened with our acquaintance and their home situation and was told that she had heard that they had moved out of state and that then the husband had moved back into the area with one of the sons (sounds like there may have been a possible separation or divorce?) I am wondering now if he might have illegally moved back into "his" house, under some sort of hostile situation, leaving the winner of the auction with the problem of evicting him.  Does this ever happen with former foreclosed owners--moving back into their homes as hostile "tenants"?

I have heard of people breaking into vacant homes and living there, and they can't be evicted without going through regular eviction proceedings. Just wondering.

This house would be a great deal if it could be gotten near at the starting bid--but just wondering what is going on with the "occupant" issue!

Phyllis E. · Answer

Mary B- I did look at your post and the resulting thread about the adverse possession issue! Very interesting. I had no idea that you could gain ownership of a house that way! I checked out the link you had posted and evidently in my state of Maryland, it would take 20 years of paying taxes!! I was surprised that in Calif. it only takes 5 years!

I had heard about adverse possession before but thought that it mainly applied to vacant land or parts of land (such as a neighbor putting his driveway on part of your property.) My cousin once had a job as a forest ranger and part of her duties were to go around the perimeter of the park boundaries to make sure no one was "squatting" and trying to take possession through the adverse possession laws I guess!

Thanks again.

Phyllis E. · Answer

Thanks for the replies, Wayne and Mary B. Good point about it might not actually be illegal to go up and knock on the door-- if they seem "hostile", I could  just ask if they know the whereabouts of the former owners or something like that. The warnings on the listing gave the impression that the tenants might call the police, or "shoot trespassers on sight" or something like that !!!

I was thinking that it might be possible that  the former owner may have just moved back in for "free rent", so to speak, knowing that no one else was there and the neighbors wouldn't think it odd for him to be there, etc.   I didn't think that banks could or would rent out their reo properties, unless they were previously rented out (this was an owner-occupied home,  though perhaps the former owners rented it out right before they got evicted??) This is not the type of area where you would expect squatters to move in (except maybe a former owner or a buddy of his?), but I guess you never know.

Is it legal for the listing agent to buy a  foreclosed property that he has personally listed? Just wondering why the listing almost seems to be discouraging anyone from bidding on or buying this property--perhaps the agent himself would like to buy it! (It is listed on the MLS for $335K, though the listing says that it is now under auction, and the starting bid for the auction is $235K!)

Wayne Brooks · Answer

The former owners may have moved back in prior to the actual foreclosure auction, which could have been rescheduled many times.  If so, it wasn't illegal, as they were still the owners.  Public records will show when the bank actually took title.  But yes, the occupants whoever they may be, will be the responsibility of the new owner to deal with.  I personally just knock on the door.  Saying it's illegal on an auction site, doesn't make it illegal.

Mary B. · Answer

@Phyllis E.  Mostly its a squatter issue, drug users & thieves to steal pipes whatever left over merchandise they can find. It doesn't do the previous owners any good to trespass. Though stranger things have happened.

If you're talking about adverse possession there are certain timelines and criteria differing in each state for the occupant to have legal rights. I just shared a post about this not long ago.

Kudos,

Mary