Bank of America wrongly foreclosed on a house while the owner was on vacation. The almost unbelievable story has emerged in court documents, showing that an 82-year-old man has lost his life's possessions as a result.
The Huffington Post has reported that Benito Santiago Sr. returned from vacation to find his house completely empty and a padlock on the front door. The only evidence that anyone had been there was a sign on the door for the company that had cleaned out the house. Bank of America had sent that company, which seems to have gone to the wrong address to do their foreclosing.
This story out of Hillsborough County, Florida is one of a growing number where foreclosures have been undertaken on unsuspecting home owners. In this case, Santiago didn't have any connection to Bank of America, meaning that the bank had no rights over the house in the first place. Yet Bank of America still seized the house and all of the belongings that were found inside.
The extremely sad part of this case is that Santiago has never received any of his belongings back, even after the mistake was pointed out to the companies involved. It's a tragic case where an elderly man has been stripped of his past and must now spend his golden years going through the court systems to try and rectify the mistake of someone else.
What do you think about this case? Should Santiago be getting more than his belongings and house back in this case? How culpable should Bank of America be for this situation?
Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons
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Comments: 11
This gentleman prob. owned his home straight out (usually by his age, they own the homes they paid half their life on)
You are probably right about there being many more stories out there. For every one that the media get a hold of, there are probably 10 more settled in court that simply didn't make the news.