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Foreclosure Error Ruins Couple's Retirement Home

Subcontractors took valuables, destroyed house

By Mark Russell,  Newser Staff | Suggested by The_Old_Wolf

Posted Sep 8, 2012 6:01 AM CDT

(Newser) – It was just a small desert home near Twentynine Palms, California, but it was all paid for, and Alvin and Pat Tjosaas intended on spending their retirement there. Too bad Wells Fargo decided to foreclose on it anyway. The bank sent subcontractors to the wrong address, and despite a different name appearing on the foreclosure notice, the subcontractors took anything valuable—including a garage full of heirlooms and Tjosaas' mason tools—then smashed the windows, tore down walls, and left the home in ruins, reports KABC.

Alvin Tjosaas, a retired mason, helped his father build the house in 1961, when he was just 14 years old. “I know every inch, every rock," he said. "My mom mixed all the cement by hand." Wells Fargo apologized and offered the couple $260,000 in compensation—but only after TV news outlets started asking questions. "When you put your heart into something…it makes me real sad. I’m just glad I have my sweetheart. We’ve been together a long time,” Tjosaas told CBSLA.

A retired couple near Twentynine Palms, Calif., had their home ruined and ransacked by Wells Fargo subcontractors who foreclosed on the wrong address.
A retired couple near Twentynine Palms, Calif., had their home ruined and ransacked by Wells Fargo subcontractors who foreclosed on the wrong address.   (Shutterstock)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 60 comments
gilgordan
Sep 10, 2012 8:17 AM CDT
Don't you just love Bankers! WF was rated high by government regulators for mortgage satisfaction. Love the fact that WF only offered money once the damage was exposed. Masters of the Game, Bankers. Not enough has been done legally to expose these tyrants for what they are.
Tology
Sep 8, 2012 4:02 PM CDT
What I don't understand is why they turned a foreclosed home into an uninhabitable eyesore in a neighborhood.  Tear it down or leave it alone, don't be petty asses and just vandalize it and leave it.
Naked_Emperor
Sep 8, 2012 2:22 PM CDT
And these STUPID subcontractors live where? Yes mistakes happen, but when your papers include an obvious error (wrong name), stop and double check.
 

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