If it is obvious that the damage was done intentionally, the bank can file criminal charges.

The house is not truly owned by you until it is paid off.

Mortgage contracts include provisions that the property is to be kept up and insured through the term of the contract.

Intentional damage is vandalism and is a criminal offense.

All those costs are added to the debt and are still the responsibility of the original debtor.

The bank will get their money one way or another.

By the way, in many states, criminal damages cannot be discharged through bankruptcy.

I have seen several news shows about the subject first brought up. It is a big business. People get a contract from the bank to clear these houses of the abandoned property, then they hire temp workers or homeless people for the labor.

One of the shows interviewed a guy who was working for the same company that cleared his house. He doesn't care for the work, but he has to do something for money, and they pay cash.

Most of the time it is just abandoned trash, but there are a lot of elderly and disabled people who simply have nowhere else to go, and they just get put out on the street.

It is a HUGE problem that is getting bigger, but I'm sure if we just give some more tax breaks to the people with all the money, the problem will just go away, right?

BHSC