wrong condo emptied

[vvsonikvv]

hmmm interesting story.
Video - Breaking News Videos from CNN.com

there's more to the story.
Company Forecloses On Wrong Condo, Throws Out Everything - The Consumerist

it seems the realtor sent in pictures to the news media to "prove" there's very little stuff in the condo... but the readers poked holes in that, if you look in the comments.

what would you do? Have you ever had anything like this happen?


If you photographed everything in your apt/house, would that help? How do you replace unvaluable goods? Like memories, wedding pictures, etc. ? I wonder what happens legally.

 

[W2R]

All you could do is hire a lawyer, take whatever he could get for you, and then go on with life.

Things happen. Pretty awful situation, I agree.

 

[Orchidflower]

This would be funny if it wasn't so sad...boy, I surely feel sorry for the lady. Sad situation, so I hope she gets alot out of that one to make up for her loss and inconvenience.

 

[youbet]

Yeah, I'd think she's owed the value of the goods that were trashed, the value of her time to get reorganized and a generous penalty amount for the real estate company being dumb and arrogant. Most folks around here would say that the real estate company needs to pay an "******* tax."

The $5k offer was a joke and an insult.

I hope the woman involved pressed the issue with the local PD as a burglary as much as possible. If the jerks who entered her condo and removed the goods at least had to come down to the station and explain their actions or go to trial and have a judge rule it an accident and not a crime, it might help with the following civil suit.

 

[Walt34]

Agreed with youbet. It doesn't matter how much or how little stuff she had, even if all that was there was an air mattress, sleeping bag and cardboard box for some stuff.

They screwed up. At a minimum they owe her a nice set of furniture and kitchen gear.

 

[clifp]

If it was me I'd look at the penalties for home invasion and burglary (looks 1-10 years in jail, and a $10K fine in Nevada). Then threaten prosecute unless they made a serious offer. I would think that prospect of being a convicted felon and serving time in jail, would cause the offer to go open.

After all what is to stop enterprising burglars to start a home eviction business and claim oops it was an accident in the future?

 

[Texas Proud]

I doubt that anybody will be prosecuted on this... there was no criminal intent (isn't that needed in a criminal case?)

They were supposed to be clearing out a condo that was foreclosed... but screwed up...

Anyhow, the people you want to collect money from did not do the cleaning... someone else did...

I think that the burden of proof is the realtors.... if I was in a jury and saw the pictures from the lady, they would have to get me some proof that she had moved this stuff... I would NOT believe their photos...

One question I have.. how long did it take to get all the stuff out? And where did they take it? Unless I am on vacation, I go home each day and would kind of notice no furniture... and I would think that it would take longer than a half day to empty out the house and dispose of all the stuff where NOTHING could be recovered.... just my 2 cents...

 

[W2R]

One question I have.. how long did it take to get all the stuff out?

A team of good movers can empty a 2000 square foot house or condo in 2-3 hours without breaking a sweat. Lazy movers working on an hourly salary, might take longer, though, especially if there aren't very many of them.

As for disposing the stuff? I don't know and I think your point is very well taken.

 

[M Paquette]

how long did it take to get all the stuff out? And where did they take it?

Having seen one of these crews at work; maybe 2 hours tops. The ones around here show up with a couple of high side pickup trucks or an old dump truck and a batch of day laborers. Everything comes out of the house and is tossed into the truck until it's overflowing, then it's usually tarped and leaves for the dump while they fill the second truck.

I doubt anything these guys loaded remained undamaged. They're not movers, just folks hauling stuff to the dump as fast as possible.

 

[Martha]

A team of good movers can empty a 2000 square foot house or condo in 2-3 hours without breaking a sweat.

For sure! I just watched them do it a few days ago.

 

[Texas Proud]

Having seen one of these crews at work; maybe 2 hours tops. The ones around here show up with a couple of high side pickup trucks or an old dump truck and a batch of day laborers. Everything comes out of the house and is tossed into the truck until it's overflowing, then it's usually tarped and leaves for the dump while they fill the second truck.

I doubt anything these guys loaded remained undamaged. They're not movers, just folks hauling stuff to the dump as fast as possible.

I know it can be fast... I had a crew of three move us in about 6 hours... but they had to wrap all the furniture with moving blankets and that clingy film.... then had to unwrap everything when they got here...

But I was not thinking that they do not care what happens with the stuff, so the time is much faster... still, I think that you could make it to the dump and maybe fish out some pictures or other things that can not be replaced... as long as you know where they took it!!!

 

[W2R]

still, I think that you could make it to the dump and maybe fish out some pictures or other things that can not be replaced... as long as you know where they took it!!!

I don't think I would want to sort through the contents of an entire landfill looking for my things, my photos, my life. I helped someone try to salvage things here when treasured memorabilia were tossed out into an alley with hurricane debris shortly after Katrina, and frankly given the bad condition of what few items were recovered, I would rather just take the hit and start over from scratch. It hurts less.

 

[vvsonikvv]

I don't think I would want to sort through the contents of an entire landfill looking for my things, my photos, my life. I helped someone try to salvage things here when treasured memorabilia were tossed out into an alley with hurricane debris shortly after Katrina, and frankly given the bad condition of what few items were recovered, I would rather just take the hit and start over from scratch. It hurts less.

Didn't some couple search through a landfill to find their engagement ring? I guess that had monetary and intrinsic value though.

Is there anything we should do to "help" in case we have a fire, flood, burglary. Has pictures/videos helped/hurt with insurance cases?

Does her renter's/home owner's insurance cover anything? She should still get something from the realtor's on top of her insurance right?

 

[Texas Proud]

OK... talked to my niece's BF... he is a prosecutor... said more than likely the person who emptied out the condo would have a great defense... forget the exact terms he used, but he said they would not charge them unless there was some kind of evidence that they did the wrong place on purpose... it is a civil matter...

 

[Martha]

No mens rea as they say in the criminal lawyer trade.

 

[harley]

This should never be considered a criminal case. It was a mistake. Civil case, that's another question. I know this has happened in the past, and I believe the owners got some huge (multi-million dollar) recompense. I don't know the particulars, but there's no way the company can prove what was there before they took it. And in a civil case I suspect the onus would be on them. She can probably soak them, and rightfully so. If they made a mistake, they should be honest about it and make a legitimately apologetic offer. $5K is an insult, and they need to be spanked. It will be interesting to see what happens.

Edit: More info on the precedent case. It was a little different. Countrywide foreclosed and sold their condo by accident, then tossed all their stuff. They got ~$1M compensation, plus $2.5M in punitive damages. This was reduced to $1.29M by the state Supreme Court. Still, sounds like Keller and Williams don't read the paper. http://foreclosuredefensenationwide.com/?p=49

 

[thefed]

I wouldnt be surprised if she gets a hefty sum. "Wrong address" is a pretty big mistake.

Those pics look fishy.... probably took them after they realized they were in the wrong house....