If you see Joseph Laubinger on your doorstep, start packing. His courtly presence means you have exhausted all excuses, arguments and options for keeping your house.
“It’s like I’m a doctor,” said Mr. Laubinger, an agent here for big lenders. “People ask me how much time they have left.”
Hardly any. Legally, they have already lost ownership. If they do not respond to the carrot the lenders offer ”” as much as $5,000 in cash in exchange for leaving the house in good order ”” he employs the stick: the county sheriff, who evicts them.
Mr. Laubinger is having a busy spring.
I have moved from Texas (I guess I need to change my ID :)), and during house hunting the past two months, I looked at three different foreclosed properties. One was left in pristine condition. The second wasn’t too bad, but when the former owners moved out, they removed the refrigerator by dragging it across the hardwood floors, through the kitchen, down the hall and out the door. Some of the scratches were grooves that would be too deep to sand out.
The third was in the worst shape. The former owners ripped (and I mean ripped) out every appliance in the kitchen: refrigerator, double oven wall unit, the ceramic cook top, the dishwasher. There were splinters of molding and pieces of cabinets everywhere. The strangest thing was they took the time and effort to remove every single interior door, not only taking the doors down, but taking out all the hinges and the door handles. They left the doors, but took the hinges, screws, and door handles. How much time and effort did that take, and to what end???? At least they did leave the copper water pipes.