Foreclosure investing isn’t always about profit. Sometimes it’s about loss too.

At least that’s what a Pittsburgh area man learned the hard way when he returned from the holidays to discover that a foreclosure property he had purchased, and was renovating to move into, had been demolished by a city crew. Accidentally. This is one of those stories of events gone awry to an almost incomprehensible extent. Like a surgeon amputating the wrong limb or mistaking granny’s ashes for yard waste.

The owner, Andre Hall, purchased a foreclosure with extensive water damage back in November. He was given six months to make repairs, which he apparently was in the process of doing, judging by new windows and drywall slabs that the city bulldozers ignored on their way to leveling the place. Perhaps contributing to the confusion was the fact that Hall’s house stood next door to another vacant foreclosure that was supposed to be leveled. Hall’s had been sitting vacant for five years, though wasn’t a complete charity case, having been assessed at $31,000.

So Andre Hall had no compunctions leaving the area for a holiday vacation. He had paid the money, and was in the process of completing repairs well under the six month time frame. Plus he was planning to move his family into the dwelling three weeks after his return from vacation. Until he pulled into the driveway to find a backhoe sitting on top of the crushed structure.

John Jennings, acting chief of Pittsburgh’s Bureau of Building Inspections, immediately began backpedaling at full speed, pointing out that Hall had not yet secured a building permit to work on his house, so how were they to know it shouldn’t be knocked down? Jennings also declared he had told the city crews on November 3 that the house should not be demolished.

At present, Hall appears to be out the $31,000, plus money spent on repairs. However, at AIPIS, we have a sneaking suspicion that Pittsburgh hasn’t heard the end of this tale yet. Who’s guessing the words “settlement” and “lawsuit” will be percolating through the mix in the near future?

And that’s what we call a bad day in foreclosure investing.

The AIPIS Team

Flickr / AndyRob