On May 20, 2009, a couple renting a house in Kern County, California nearly had their home broken into and everything stolen along with having their pets escape when a bank sent out a cleaning contractor company with orders to “empty out the house”.
The house, unbeknownst to them, had been foreclosed upon a week earlier, and instead of following legal (though highly unethical) eviction procedures, the bank thought it would get a jump on the real estate market and just allow its contractors to commit trespass, robbery and assault.
The woman who was home alone was startled when a large dumpster truck backed up into her driveway in the rural area which is normally fairly quiet. All of her requests for information from the two men were completely ignored. They then threatened her by telling her to stay out of the way as they intended to break in and remove everything she and her husband owned. Terrified, the woman ran in the house and locked the door. At least one of the men moved to the back of the house and she ran to make sure her back door was locked. She continued screaming at them that she was going to call the police. It was then that she heard one of the men mention “the bank” as to who had sent them. Her insistent announcement of imminent police involvement eventually sent the rats scurrying. A formal complaint was filed with the police.
Upon investigation, it was revealed that the foreclosure and subsequent illegal action had been perpetrated by OneWest Bank of Pasadena (formerly the failed IndyMac Bank) in cahoots with Prudential California Realty located in Valencia.
The couple is seeking information from other tenants who may have suffered similar illegal eviction. If you’re one of them, please comment on this blog.
