PNC Owns Empty House, Buyer Sits in Motel Amid Foreclosure Mess

Some of the fallout concerning the foreclosure freeze and the basically the state of REO's in general.  

“I can’t get the house ready for winter, can’t install the missing water heater, can’t whack the weeds down, and can’t attend to the things a new homeowner needs to do,” Durden, 65, e-mailed from the motel. He has been in limbo since Oct. 7 after moving his belongings 640 miles north from a Los Angeles apartment.

After Bank of America Corp. and other lenders delayed seizures almost two months ago to check their sworn court statements in thousands of foreclosures, a growing number of would-be buyers are struggling to close deals -- a sign that the documentation mess is dragging on the market. October sales of existing homes fell more than economists forecast, dropping 2.2 percent, the National Association of Realtors said yesterday.

Even PNC, which has said an internal review found its procedures are designed to prevent unwarranted foreclosures, has ready buyers claiming the bank’s examination of completed seizures is derailing deals. A spokesman for the Pittsburgh- based lender declined to comment on Durden’s case and others

Durden was scheduled to close Oct. 8 on his $75,000 purchase of PNC’s 1,150-square-foot house on Weed’s Sherwood Road, he said in an interview. The bank postponed the deal a day before. He had already hired laborers to pack his 26-foot U-Haul truck and settled up with his landlord. So, the retired rigger of racing yachts drove north. Ever since, Durden and real estate broker Joe Faris, of Richter Scale Real Estate in Yreka, California, have been trying to find out when the deal will close, they said.

“It seems as though PNC has put up an impenetrable wall around them so no one can find out what is really going on,” Durden said.

“PNC will not comment on any individual properties and will not comment on the assertions of third parties,” a spokesman for the bank, Fred Solomon, said in an e-mail. Solomon was provided addresses by Bloomberg News for the house Durden wants along with those of three other foreclosed houses that potential buyers say are in limbo.

“Our reviews will continue as long as necessary to ensure homeowners have been treated fairly and in accordance with applicable law,” he said. “In some cases, these reviews require coordination with investors.”

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