Foreclosed Home Boarded Up With Man Still Inside!

by Tom Royce on June 9, 2009


The indignity of being foreclosed upon is hard enough, the City of Minneapolis magnified the problem by boarding the man up in his house.

Ted Poetsch lived in this house his whole life. He made a few mistakes and lost his home, an issue that has affected millions of other households. But for the city of Minneapolis to board him up in his own home is an indignity that should not be suffered by anyone.

Cane in hand, he lurched around, throwing a few things in bags, putting Kitty in the carrier. He heard the contractor outside starting to drill into the door frame.

Poetsch made his way down his narrow stairway, resigned to the end he had resisted for three years, through personal financial missteps, the false promise of a foreclosure “rescue” and a court victory that gave him short-lived hope.

He came to the door and realized that he was too late. A truck had driven away from the house, prompting those outside to think the tenants were gone. Poetsch had been boarded up inside his house.

City officials say Poetsch had ample warning that they were coming that day, but they say his brief incarceration was an unprecedented mistake. In many ways, Poetsch’s experience is emblematic of the forces that have fastened plywood over so much of the North Side and urban neighborhoods across America. via the Star Tribune.

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{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }

Investment Property June 9, 2009 at 1:35 pm

Well you could say that is one way to guarantee a rental tenant!

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Clinton, UT June 9, 2009 at 5:28 pm

What? Who wouldn't have the sense to look first? I've never heard of this before…

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Jason Sandquist June 9, 2009 at 8:02 pm

I love this story, I laughed so hard when first saw this the other day

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RACHEL SALTMARSHALL June 10, 2009 at 9:54 am

IT JUST GOES TO SHOW YOU JUST HOW DESENSITIZED MANY HAVE BECOME TO OTHERS TIMES OF DESPAIR . AT THE DROP OF DIME WE TOO COULD BE THIS MAN TRYING TO HOLD ON. WHO LAUGHS AT SUCH A THING AS THIS ? WHY ?

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Tony Sena June 10, 2009 at 10:23 am

I wonder how long he was stuck inside the home before he was finally let out?

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Rental Management Co June 10, 2009 at 9:07 pm

Management of property is very important to make a regular flow of income. So many property management companies are there in the market that does the entire task with dedication caring the property of landlords. These companies actually work as an intermediary between the landlords and tenants. They help the tenants in finding the property of their choice, ensuring the landlords about the optimum use of their properties for good flow of income.

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Home June 28, 2009 at 11:09 pm

What bothers me is that the contractor hired with the task of maintaining the foreclosed properties is so busy with boarding up what is obviously a large queue of homes that he couldn't be bothered to check that there wasn't any occupants. Dangerous as well.

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