Cash For Keys: Banks Paying Delinquent Borrowers So They Don’t Trash The House
Article and video from the WSJ, Buyers Revenge: Trash the House After Foreclosure.
These days, bankers and mortgage companies often find that by the time they get the keys back, embittered homeowners have stripped out appliances, punched holes in walls, dumped paint on carpets and, as a parting gift, locked their pets inside to wreak further havoc.
This can obviously cost thousands of dollars to fix before re-sale. The solution? Payola.
The most practical way to ensure the houses are returned in decent shape, lenders and their agents say, is to pay homeowners hundreds or even thousands of dollars to put their anger in escrow and leave quietly.
The moral: Never underestimate the goodwill engendered by a fat stack of cash.