USA - FORECLOSED and BLIGHTED

It's what's coming...and what it really looks like...when you "pull back the covers."
Yeah...we know....this is Florida....it's not about our state (Ohio?, Illinois,? Michigan? Nevada?)

Think Again !!!

The FLORIDA SUN SENTINEL has a powerful 3-part series which closely examines the outcome of the bank run foreclosure system. The series reveals the aftermath of what happens when our ignorant judges empty our cities on behalf of the banks. Worse - when banks leave cities, communities and neighborhoods blighted ...they point fingers ...and have everyone wondering....who will clean up the mess? Who will pay the taxes?

Stunning 3-part report shows what happens when Big Banks own our Courts and Judges!!!

Part 1: Thousands of Homes Neglected (HERE)

David vs. Goliath

In Ohio, the nonprofit Cleveland Housing Renewal Project filed suit against Wells Fargo in 2010, dropping the case only after the bank agreed to donate distressed properties to the county "land bank," along with $7,500 per home to offset demolition costs. Land banks hold properties until they can be sold, developed or bulldozed into green space.

Another suit filed by the nonprofit group, against Deutsche Bank and eight other mortgage servicers, is still active. The Ohio group has persisted in its court actions despite being outmatched financially by the banks. It has relied on the donated services of a law professor at Cleveland State University and a local attorney who offered a discounted rate. They were up against a platoon of bank lawyers likely making $500 an hour, said Frank Ford, Cleveland Housing Renewal Project president."Not every city has a nonprofit that would take on a David and Goliath situation," he said.

Also see related: Cancelled Foreclosures 'saddle neighbors'
Reporter: Mark Puente spent more than five years with The Plain Dealer in Cleveland where he won several journalism awards for his investigative work. The newspaper nominated him twice for the Pulitzer Prize

Part 2: Crumbling Homes in Legal Limbo (HERE)

Bank-owned homes are concentrated in predominantly minority and less well-to-do neighborhoods, where household incomes fall below the countywide medians...In a report released earlier this month, the National Fair Housing Alliance, a Washington advocacy group, charged that banks are violating the federal Fair Housing Act by neglecting the upkeep on homes in minority neighborhoods and steering real estate agents to the banks' better-preserved homes elsewhere. (Read HERE)

Also see related: The Foreclosure Crisis affects 8 Million Children

The organization has called on federal regulators and law enforcement to investigate the banks for housing discrimination practices. Wells Fargo, one of the banks identified, denied the allegations. The bank "conducts all lending-related activities in a fair and consistent manner without regard to race; this includes maintenance and marketing standards for all foreclosed properties for which we are responsible," said {bank-paid script reading & robotic} company spokeswoman Vickee Adams.

Also see related: Foreclose, Evict & Abandon

"When the servicer … discovers that the house isn't worth much they'll call up whoever is doing the work ... and say 'You're done. Stop cutting the grass. Don't go look every week to see if it's still boarded up. We're done,'" said retired law professor Kermit Lind, a consultant for the Municipal Housing Court in Cleveland, Ohio. "If it's a low-value house, the service is lousy. And usually doesn't last very long," Lind has found.

Typically, the banks contract out property maintenance and preservation work to large national firms, such as Safeguard Properties, based in Cleveland; Field Asset Services in Austin, Texas, or Mortgage Contracting Services (MCS), headquartered in Tampa. They, in turn, subcontract the work to smaller local companies, which then find people to actually mow the lawn or perform other chores.But who exactly the companies are, and how extensive their obligations, are often as cloudy as the algae-covered pools they are sent to clean. Neighbors and city officials often struggle to identify which company to call about a problem place. The firms come and go, depending on when a home enters foreclosure, whether it can be determined to be vacant, and whether a company servicing a loan decides to proceed with a foreclosure action or drop it and walk away.

Part 3: Cities Fight Back (HERE)

Hey judges- now that the mill/drone attorneys have left your courtroom - who owns the house?

"Largest slumlords"

Across Florida, many local officials have looked to Cleveland for innovative solutions. The Ohio city was hit early and hard by the foreclosure crisis. There, Judge Raymond L. Pianka won national prominence for using its Municipal Housing Court in novel ways to address code enforcement violations involving absentee owners, including banks. When owners failed to show up for hearings, he conducted trials in absentia. When the {Bank owned} Ohio Supreme Court shot down that practice, Pianka issued summons for the missing lenders. Those who didn't appear were found in contempt and fined. The names of banks, and others who ignored the court's calls, were added to what's called a "warrant capias" list.Banks on that list are denied court-ordered actions in other matters, such as evictions, until they respond to the code violations.

Also see related: MLS tells Wells Fargo Bank: Stop Deceiving

SunSentinel Graphic (HERE)

Shocking PHOTO gallery (Linked Here)