Repossessed Houses

Repossessed houses are those foreclosed houses that have been again taken over by the lenders - mostly the banks. The foreclosure is a legal process by which the lender recovers unpaid dues by foreclosing on the collateral - the house that has been kept as security. The law gives the lender the absolute authority to sell the house and from the proceeds realize the unpaid dues.

The irony of the present situation is that there are so many foreclosures at the auctions that buyers are not available. When there are no buyers the banks take over the house. These repossessed houses are multiplying in numbers causing concern for the locality and the authorities.

The banks are reluctant or rather unable to take over the upkeep of the thousands of repossessed houses that they have on their rolls. These empty houses are being broken into by vandals and thieves. To put a check and to make banks more accountable legislation is being passed in one state after another to force the banks to see to the maintenance of the houses.

The banks are fighting tooth and nail as a group to stop the passage of such laws regarding repossessed houses. So far when a house is in foreclosure it is in a state of limbo. The banks contend that unless they have in their hands the clear title deed of the house they cannot be held responsible for the units. But the new law will stipulate that as soon as foreclosure proceedings start the lender becomes responsible.

Many state governments have started operations to clean and maintain the crumbling houses for the time being. When the owner will come forth to claim new ownership the entity or person will be handed over the bill with penalties. The amount will be considerable and the banks want to avoid it at all cost.

The local authorities are finding it difficult to locate the owners of vacant houses - even the repossessed ones. The banks have been trying ways and means to see that the entry of their names as owners in the registers is delayed as far as possible.

The banks are eager to sell these repossessed houses - the white elephants that are ruining them. But strangely buyers complain that when they contact the banks regarding purchases it takes months to obtain a reply. This is because the banks are floundering with so many respossessed houses that they do not have the infrastructure to tackle the problem swiftly and smoothly.