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Cleaning Up Foreclosed Homes After the Mortgage Crisis

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Paying cash for keys, Lang says, can also hopefully reduce the chance of a violent encounter. In October, Harris County constables experienced the extreme side of foreclosures.

When a constable approached a home in Spring to post an eviction notice, the owner came outside with a pistol. The constable retreated, and the man went back inside. The encounter turned into a standoff — with police and SWAT surrounding the house — which lasted nearly 12 hours.

The man started chucking out Molotov cocktails, and police fired tear gas into the house. Still the owner didn't come out. Eventually, police stormed the house and the man shot himself. A gas mask and chemical suit were found inside.

Junk haulers stay away from most of the trouble, but the job isn't risk-free.

Gordon Jefferson has run a small trash-hauling operation for about the last seven years. On one occasion, he was hired to clean a foreclosed property and was told to trash everything.

Jefferson started throwing away clothing, shoes, furniture and a collection of flashlights. The former owner showed up at the property while Jefferson was working and started screaming at Jefferson to leave.

"He's not really angry at you, but he'll take it out on you," Jefferson says. "Sometimes situations like that can be kind of hostile."

Jefferson backed off and called the realtor who hired him. Police came out to the property, Jefferson says, and told the man to leave. Jefferson finished the job and hauled the load to the dump.

Avoiding danger is often a concern for Correa, and when he gets a work order, his first trip to the home is for inspection.

Neighbors have become a resource. Correa tries to find out how long the property has been vacant and whether the previous residents are likely to return. He often learns more.

"[The neighbors] usually get curious and come over," Correa says. "They want to know what we're doing; they've never seen us before. Then they want to tell us what's been going on."

But Correa's main objective is speed. Sometimes, all the junk is piled in the garage and there's little garbage inside the house itself. On a good house, he can be in and out in a couple hours.

Loose trash is what slows him down the most. Paper and food wrappers spread across the floor, bottles and cans left on cabinet tops, dishes in the cupboards or a refrigerator full of food mean a job of tedious work.

Correa has also expanded his services. He'll suggest a mop job topped off with a disinfecting if the house is especially dirty. Sometimes, he'll rip out the carpet.

When the bank is willing to pay, Correa has started hiring laborers to replace cracked drywall or broken tile. But junk hauling has been his mainstay, and after dump fees and supplies, Correa usually pockets between $300 and $1,000 per job.

"Most banks just want a quick sell, and want us for a one-shot deal," Correa says. "I can do that. So far, it's been working out pretty good."
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Vicky Fealy, a Houston attorney, says new laws need to address how vacant properties are handled.

A state legislator in Colorado has already proposed a bill that would deal somewhat with the aftermath of foreclosures. The law would give local authorities the power to board up windows and change the locks at vacant homes. Furthermore, mortgage companies could be fined for not keeping up with basic landscaping and trash removal.

In Texas, property laws cover some areas. They apply mainly to fixtures and appliances that have been installed in the home, anything that could change the character of the house if removed. But even those guidelines are vague.

"That's kind of a case-by-case, fact basis. I really haven't seen lenders going after people for that," Fealy says. "There's not anything that says, 'An air conditioner is a fixture, but a refrigerator is not.'"

For items such as clothing and furniture, there is less definition in the law. Fealy says if the homeowner wanted to sue to recover damages from items that were thrown away, it would be possible.

"Most of the mortgage companies work with [the homeowners] to get their stuff out, because they don't want to face a lawsuit," Fealy says. "If they've abandoned it, well, they've abandoned it. That's kind of a gray area."

If the home is still occupied past the court-ordered vacate date, the lender must file for a Writ of Possession, and the constable's office will handle the removal of property from the house. According to Captain Harry Cunningham, a constable with Precinct 1, the writ gives the constable, and the junk hauler that's hired, a wide range of authority. If no one is home, officers can break a window to enter the property.

When the junk hauler is working with the constable, only items that are deemed valuable are removed. If the owners do not reclaim the items after 30 days, the junk hauler is allowed to sell whatever he can to recoup expenses for labor and storage fees.

"When we go out there...they're going to determine whether we're talking about junk," says Cunningham. "If it is junk, there's a good possibility that the storage company won't take it because there is no resale value. Leave that up to the landlord who he wants to dispose of it."

Lang set a $300 standard for her firm, meaning that if the combined value of items inside the house could be worth more than $300, Lang will file for her own Writ of Possession before the property is removed.

When pets are found in a foreclosed home (see "Foreclosure Pets"), the animals are considered personal property. Even workers with agencies such as the Humane Society usually require a release form to remove an animal from a house.

"That's real difficult for me," Lang says.

On most jobs, however, the work is done without the constable or a Writ of Possession. Smaller companies and independent junk haulers are under more pressure to get the job done and collect the paycheck.

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