Here at FFF we’re normally very sympathetic to the homeowner caught up in Florida’s foreclosure crisis. But every once in a while, someone comes along and works the system in a way that threatens everyone else who plays by the rules of the game.
The St. Petersburg Times reports that Rose King of St. Pete has thwarted the efforts of lenders to foreclosure on her defaulted loan for nearly nine years. Her first filing came in 1999.
In 1998, she got a $63,325 loan from Advanta National Bank, but quickly went into default. A year later, Advanta foreclosed and the house was due to be auctioned July 12, 1999. King filed her first Chapter 13 petition, automatically stopping the sale.
The court dismissed her case for failure to keep up with the court-ordered payments, but soon, she was in bankruptcy again. And again. And again.
“She lived two years for free, I can tell you that,” says Kelly Goff, who held the most recent mortgage and had to schedule foreclosure sales four times.
Ultimately, Goff, holding a note for $170,000, got a judge to allow him to go forward with the foreclosure sale.
Goff says he spent more than $20,000 in legal costs before the foreclosure auction was finally held on March 14. As typically happens when property is mortgaged for more than it’s worth, he bought the house with a $100 bid. And was appalled by what he found.
She had stripped the house bare – even the sinks and toilets were gone.
One part of me admires Ms. King’s refusal to back down from a fight.
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