I am a looooongtime lurker, first time diarist. I have been with this website almost since its founding. It has nearly become my news website, although I will keep my ear to the ground of the general consensus on cable news.
I wish I could begin my writing relationship on better terms, but unfortunately bad news makes better catalyst than contentment. My family an I have been the victims of gross malfeasance at the hands of a mortgage servicing company (debt collectors). I will give you a brief backstory, with names withheld to protect possible future legal matters. All I will say is that this takes place in Georgia.
Please join me below.
Introductions first, I am a college grad still living with my folks due to not being able to find a job in my field. I graduated with honors, no less. I have only been able to find small jobs that only paid minimum wage and even then those were hard to come by.
My family and I built a house that we lived in for more than a decade. It was our home, but soon we grew weary of living in a rural area, as there was not much in the way of job opportunities. Soon finances started to get tight and we were struggling to make our mortgage payments. Our previous mortgage holder was an understanding man, and knew hardship himself which allowed him to understand hardship in others. We were late in a few payments in the early oughts and he understood. However, his company went bankrupt and we now found that our mortgage was suddenly being represented by a debt servicing company.
This company could not be topped when it came to harassment. Late night calls. Repeated late night calls. Near-threats. All these things. We had had enough, so were were all prepared to walk away from the house. They could have the land, the house, whatever. We were through with it and through with them. We made this decision in March of this year. Over the next couple of months, we began to move our belongings out. They deigned to give us a few months to leave, and our driveway was in terrible condition, so we were thankful for it. Eventually, last month we were told that the house would be put up for auction this month. This spurred us to rent a U-Haul and collect the rest of our belongings before the auction date. So we did, and after much haranguing and sweat, we filled the U-Haul with as much as we could left. All of those items are safely in storage.
In sum, the items left on our (soon to be former) property were two sheds filled with tools and old knickknacks and electronics, four cars (A white Jeep Laredo, a brown El Camino, a Jeep Grand Wagoneer, and a black Chevy Silverado), and a few almost worthless things in the house. The auction came and went and there didn't seem to be anybody interested in the property just yet. So we breathed a sigh of relief and my parents went back to retrieve the rest of our possessions. I should make a note that at this point we had neither signed the deed over to anyone nor had we been served a notice of eviction or even a notice of any action concerning the property.
When they got there, they saw a large char mark on the front lawn. They hurried to the house and saw that people had been through our house and our sheds, and taken things that were worth things and burned some things that were not worth anything (to them). This included my grandmothers china set and some valuable looking antiques. The car had been pilfered through and had their batteries taken out. The lock on the door had been changed.
My father immediately called the police and waited for them to arrive. A car came up and my father expected to see the police and instead saw a two men approaching in a truck. They said, "I guess y'all the people that own this house," in a sarcastic tone. Almost immediately after they came, the cops showed up and the two men severely changed their sarcastic attitude. My father immediately requested that the policeman take pictures of the changed lock, the cars, the sheds, and the char mark. The policeman did so, with a bit of ire for the two men that came up the driveway before him. After he was satisfied, he started to leave when more people came up the driveway. When asked to identify themselves, they said they were here for the cars that were being sold. This got my father and mother incredibly incensed, as not only were these people responsible for stealing the batteries from our cars, they were attempting to sell cars that were not theirs.
This is where we stand. I have figured that these men, who identified themselves as agents of this mortgage servicing company, are guilty of the following acts:
8 counts unlawful trespass - one for the land, one for the house, the two sheds, and the four cars
4 counts breaking and entering - The four cars
4 counts theft by taking - the car batteries
4 counts attempted theft by taking - the cars themselves
4 counts of attempted selling of stolen property.
1 count unlawful eviction
1 count destruction of property.
Because of this criminal malfeasance, we will be preparing a lawsuit.
Also, due to the unlawful activities of this company, we are also inquiring as to the status of our mortgage, as in, whether or not these thugs actually have it. I suspect that they do not, and if they do not, we will be seeking additional damages and extortion charges.
My question to this community is thus. How should I proceed and what damages do I seek? How much pain and suffering should I amount for and what should amount would I be able to receive?
I thank you for reading and receiving my first diary on Daily Kos.