SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) - Realtors say they are seeing more and more cases of people stealing from their foreclosed homes.
Police say in most cases, they don't even know they are stealing, by law.
Doug Clark bought a foreclosed home in Draper Wednesday morning at a court auction. When he went to check out the home he found the previous owners stripping the house of in-ceiling speakers and audio equipment.
“I saw two gentlemen with ladders, and they were on the back and actually dismantling this structure,” Clark says.
Clark says the men took somewhere around 4 to 5 thousand dollars worth of valuables. Knowing it was against the law, Clark says he decided to take action.
“I sat right in that van and photographed them removing and walking stuff out,” Clark says.
He then followed the van all the way down to Provo and notified Draper police. Once he finally caught up with the man, Clark says the man didn’t realize what he did was against he law.
“I spoke to the former homeowner, and he's a great guy, he's a normal person, just like me and you. He just didn't understand the law,” Clark says.
Once Draper police explained the law, the former homeowner returned the property. One realtor we spoke with says she sees this happen all the time. Most often because people, just like this man, are unaware.
The general rule of thumb is if it's affixed to the property, it stays with the property.
