how come houses stay in foreclosure for so long?

[luckydriver]

i dont get it, how can someone move out, be foreclosed on, and the house sit 3 years. no for sale sign, nothing. i'm assumign it's the bank paying for the grass to be cut but i dont know that. the house is not listed nor has it ever had a for sale sign..well, i think once i saw it listed online on zillow but no signs up ever. i have seen at least 2 people inside taking pictures..flash visible from outside.

 

i personally saw at least 1 sheriff notice on it a year or 2 ago

 

so my questions are:

 

1 why isnt a for sale sign up? i cant believe the bank wouldnt have actual possession of the house by now

 

2. if i was the homeowner, could i have lived there for these 3 years rent free?

[jazzpetals]

That's nothing, i worked with a dude whose 3 family got foreclosed on. Not only did he live it it for squat for 3 years, he actually collected rent from the tenants!

[luckydriver]

amazing, so it seems like people move out of foreclosures before they really even have to?

[deemac]

amazing, so it seems like people move out of foreclosures before they really even have to?

 

We did. We have three kids. There is very little rental property in our area. Finding a place to move to gave us the bit of security we needed to make the leap into BK. We actually paid rent on the place for 5 months before we moved, but we could make the transition at our own pace. With no idea of how long we would have I couldn't have handled the thought of sheriff deputies showing up to kick us out. Even 30 days notice would have made it very difficult to find a place and get moved in time.