We used to have this customer, let’s call him Don. Older fellow, survived exposure to agent orange in the Vietnam War. Had been retired for years when I first met him. Seemed nice. Pretty introverted.
About 4 years ago, Don bought a mobile home for his girlfriend and her kids. It was down the street from his mobile home. He paid on time. He also took out a loan for an ATV. Which, apparently, his girlfriend was using.
Last April, he died. We started dealing with two of the women in his life: his girlfriend, “Shauna,” and his niece, “Janice.” Shauna started making payments on the mobile home loan, which made sense to us since she was (and still is) living in it. Meanwhile, Janice was working with an estate attorney to get appointed personal representative of the estate.
Then all of a sudden in November, Shauna stopped making payments. Janice stepped up for a couple months to make payments, but then she stopped, too. She stopped returning my phone calls.
After a few letters and phone calls from Ted (who, you may recall, is my former branch manager who now works at the main branch), Janice agreed to have the estate pay down the loan for the mobile home and deed it to the bank.
The ATV has gone missing. We suspect Shauna sold it and used the money for herself (possibly for meth - she displays many of the signs). The bank ended up charging off the remaining balance of that loan.
My new Branch Manager and I have made several trips to the mobile home, even before the bank got it back. The place is a dump. Garbage piled on the deck. Plastic sheeting wrapped around the bottom of the trailer (presumably to keep the snow away). Our last visit, there was a fillet of fish still in the packaging laying on the deck. I get the concept of using the snow as an additional freezer in the winter, but this was laying out on the bare deck in the sun, on a warmish (for Minnesota in March) day.
Shauna doesn’t answer the door, but we’re pretty sure she’s there. Someone’s letting the dog out, at least. With the snow melting, it’s pretty gross. The dog barks from inside the house when we knock, but there’s no other response. We didn't see any sign of any kids.
We’ve mailed and left letters in the door. The last one was certified. If she refuses to sign for it, we might get it back in about a month.
Ted and BM had worked out a plan that if Shauna moved out within a month and cleaned the place up, the bank would give her $500. We hoped that would be enough incentive. When I called her after they came up with this plan, she actually answered her phone. She said it sounded good. She would come in the next day to sign an agreement and discuss the details with us. She never showed. She also stopped answering her phone.
Our next step was to get an attorney involved and start the eviction process. Because if a corporation owns a property and they want to evict someone (even a squatter who has no property rights), they have to hire an attorney and go to court. The process could take months.
But now that’s been put on hold, too, since the governor has put a halt to foreclosures and evictions in Minnesota while we deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. So basically this whole thing is on hold for at least the next several weeks.
About 4 years ago, Don bought a mobile home for his girlfriend and her kids. It was down the street from his mobile home. He paid on time. He also took out a loan for an ATV. Which, apparently, his girlfriend was using.
Last April, he died. We started dealing with two of the women in his life: his girlfriend, “Shauna,” and his niece, “Janice.” Shauna started making payments on the mobile home loan, which made sense to us since she was (and still is) living in it. Meanwhile, Janice was working with an estate attorney to get appointed personal representative of the estate.
Then all of a sudden in November, Shauna stopped making payments. Janice stepped up for a couple months to make payments, but then she stopped, too. She stopped returning my phone calls.
After a few letters and phone calls from Ted (who, you may recall, is my former branch manager who now works at the main branch), Janice agreed to have the estate pay down the loan for the mobile home and deed it to the bank.
The ATV has gone missing. We suspect Shauna sold it and used the money for herself (possibly for meth - she displays many of the signs). The bank ended up charging off the remaining balance of that loan.
My new Branch Manager and I have made several trips to the mobile home, even before the bank got it back. The place is a dump. Garbage piled on the deck. Plastic sheeting wrapped around the bottom of the trailer (presumably to keep the snow away). Our last visit, there was a fillet of fish still in the packaging laying on the deck. I get the concept of using the snow as an additional freezer in the winter, but this was laying out on the bare deck in the sun, on a warmish (for Minnesota in March) day.
Shauna doesn’t answer the door, but we’re pretty sure she’s there. Someone’s letting the dog out, at least. With the snow melting, it’s pretty gross. The dog barks from inside the house when we knock, but there’s no other response. We didn't see any sign of any kids.
We’ve mailed and left letters in the door. The last one was certified. If she refuses to sign for it, we might get it back in about a month.
Ted and BM had worked out a plan that if Shauna moved out within a month and cleaned the place up, the bank would give her $500. We hoped that would be enough incentive. When I called her after they came up with this plan, she actually answered her phone. She said it sounded good. She would come in the next day to sign an agreement and discuss the details with us. She never showed. She also stopped answering her phone.
Our next step was to get an attorney involved and start the eviction process. Because if a corporation owns a property and they want to evict someone (even a squatter who has no property rights), they have to hire an attorney and go to court. The process could take months.
But now that’s been put on hold, too, since the governor has put a halt to foreclosures and evictions in Minnesota while we deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. So basically this whole thing is on hold for at least the next several weeks.
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