mod (Andy) note: "Blast from the past - Best of Eddie" - This one is originally from November 2010. If there's an old post from Eddie you'd like to see up again shoot me a message.
I have to admit, I love stories like this. I'm not making any value judgments on the morality of what this guy did, but I think we should be prepared to see more and more of this as the recession wears on and more people go underwater. Maybe a unique approach like this one will force banks to consider a more collaborative approach to crisis resolution.
Terry Hoskins had been in a beef with his bank and the IRS for over a decade when the bank finally moved to initiate foreclosure proceedings, even though Hoskins had never been late on a single payment. But here's the thing: Hoskins had taken out a loan on the land and owed about $160,000 on it, but over the course of that decade he built a home on the land and improved it to a value of $350,000. When he came up with the $170,000 to pay off the bank, the bank told him to get bent because they could sell the property for more at auction and make a profit.
Hoskins solution? Bulldoze the home to timbers.
"As far as what the bank is going to get, I plan on giving them back what was on this hill exactly (as) it was," Hoskins said. "I brought it out of the ground and I plan on putting it back in the ground."
Here is what the bank's REO department will be listing for sale shortly:
Just another life ruined by the IRS.
dude is a badass
This douche bag is trying to act like he's on some moral high ground... he has liens on his house and business from not paying his taxes. Edmundo, your description is a bit misleading... "having never missed a mortgage payment, he tried to repay his mortgage and the bank told him to eff off because the property which HE improved is now worth more than the loan"... thats not really the case. This doucher owes back taxes and has tax liens on his property and business. His house is getting foreclosed on because of the back taxes he owes.
Classic American welfare (the class, not the political theory) mentality... something for nothing. Now he's acting like he's some kind of martyr.
Love it or hate it, if this douche wants to live in this country and reap all the benefits it has to offer, he has to live by these laws.
I agree with Marcus on this one. Imagine that you borrowed several hundred thousand from a bank to open up a business and put your house up for collateral. Then your business goes bust and the bank tries to (legally) seize the house away from you. Would you go bulldoze your house?
Now obviously my example doesn't represent this guy's situation perfectly, but the only difference is that this guy put up the land for collateral and then built a house on it. The bank wanted to seize the land (with the house) to pay off the IRS liens and taxes, which were obviously a lot higher than the equity in the home; otherwise this dude would just take out a home equity loan to pay off all of his (business) debts to keep the house and his business.
The problem here is that this dude got sued by his brother with whom he was in business with in the past; that is why the IRS put liens on his properties.
If there is a lesson to be learned here it would be: DO NOT GO INTO BUSINESS WITH FAMILY MEMBERS!!!
Thats a pretty nice house...shame.
i don't get it. why couldn't he just pay back those "back taxes and liens"?
Haha crazy story. I have to say he was in the wrong, but it doesn't seem like there is any legal recourse. He owned the house at the time of the dozing, right?
I bet the bank never adjusted his interest rate for bulldozer risk. I wonder if something like this is covered by mortgage insurance...
Marcus and stk,
I totally agree with you that what he did was wrong, I just love the way he did it. It's better to burn out than to fade away...
It is a great story and thanks for sharing it.
I wonder if this guy just cost himself ~$200K, because that is how much less the bank is going to get from the property sale.
Maybe he was smart and set up a limited liability corporation, but then again if he was smart he wouldn't put his house/land down as collateral.
He will probably have to declare BK anyways.
In any case, the lien rules are typically that the IRS and local government gets the money first, then the bank, then the borrower. At least he (hopefully) won't have to carry any tax debt through BK, after he finishes his jail sentence.
I agree with Marcus_Halberstram and stk123.
Rule 1) Don't start a business and cross-collateralize a piece of land, build a home on that land, and then proceed to default on payments.
Rule 2) Don't go into business with family.
Rule 3) Don't kill call girls because then they just become hookers.
hahahaha nice reference on rule 3
marcus, you get my last bananna for that
Three years late to the party, but fuck all y'all, I like what he did. I didn't read all the facts, is the $170k he saved enough to pay everything including the liens, etc. on the house he built? Then yeah, f you guys. Most of you would fuck over grandmas in California on their energy bills a la Enron traders, don't get a hard on when Joe SixPack acts out of self interest.
Plus, it's been three years and hasn't exactly been a trend of this, which is too bad.
Oh yea Scott. I love people that fuck over their own country and make up lies in order to defend their actions. There is no way the bank wouldn't accept another's offer if he owed $160K and someone was going to give him $170K.
His ending remarks were about inspiring people to stand up to their banks.
Umm, no retard, all you had to do was pay your taxes.
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