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Two Letters Re: Finding Abandoned Properties, Post-TEOTWAWKI?
Sir,
First let me say that I agree with the sentiments of D.O.’s
reply to the original post.
However; In a situation even less drastic than another depression, I believe
there will be ‘abandoned’ properties everywhere you look due to foreclosures
and displaced persons that can no longer find viable employment and have moved
in with family or on to ‘greener’ pastures. The homeowners that lived
in them, built them, and called them home, will not own them anymore. These homes
will still have an owner, that would be the ‘bank’ that held the
note, and also in some cases, additionally the tax authority of record that has
not been paid by the previous owner nor the bank. But that ‘owner’ will
not have any idea what the disposition of most of these properties are. The financial
institutions of today are usually far from the local scene and as is evidenced
even as of late, they have internal problems of keeping their own doors open
and not getting swallowed up by a larger entity. At some point it will become
impossible to monitor the homes held on their balance sheets. Municipalities
are already starting to experience difficulties in staffing and finances due
to property tax payment incomes dropping from peoples inability to keep up with
it all and decreasing building permit fees, so this will make it hard for them
to police who is living where. Police have bigger fish to fry and that work load
will only become worse if we continue to descend into economic chaos.
If we do continue the slide, there will be plenty of empty homes. If things
get
that tough, who knows when a recovery to ‘normal’ times will happen.
One has to mainly look toward surviving at that point. There is a small part
of the population that has prepared for these coming times, but even some of
these will find themselves separated from their preps due to matters beyond their
control. If your retreat is not paid for in full and you have not made provisions
to in some way pay property taxes ahead, (and for a lot of people, even the ‘informed’,
this will not be possible) all your preparations are in jeopardy and may be forfeit.
Secondly, if you do own outright but are met with a force larger and more equipped
than you can repel, and you have to ‘abandon ship’ you are now adrift
with those that did not prepare. Granted, you will undoubtedly have at least
some pre-positioned gear in an offsite cache, but how long will that last? You
must have shelter. Especially in more severe climates. Maybe you can re-take ‘your’ residence
later and maybe not.
Reading any of the post- apocalyptic novels, one always encounters transients
scavenging abandoned houses for whatever might have been left by those that came
before. At some point, this becomes survival not looting. Looting would be the
taking of someone’s property without their permission (Larceny), and I
do not condone this, but that assumes the property owners will at some time return.
This is not the case in most [truly] abandoned homes. In Michigan I know of someone
who has a business at present, going into foreclosed homes and emptying all the
possessions left behind by the previous homeowners who basically loaded up a
car with what they could carry and left everything else. Everything is loaded
into dumpsters; from big screen televisions and kitchenware to a child’s
favorite teddy, and baby clothes. The homes look like aliens had abducted the
residents in the middle of the night.
It is heart wrenching, and is a reminder of depression/dust bowl times where
you saw transient families carting their ‘worldly’ possessions strapped
to the ol’ family sedan, looking for work. If the trend continues, at some
point the banks won’t have the revenue
to clean out an abandoned home to prepare it for re-sale when no one is buying
them. Unfortunately, we may be headed for just those kind of times.
As has been mentioned in your blog and some others; the next depression
will not be as ‘peaceful’ as the last one. People are
not as close to the land and are more morally ‘disadvantaged’.
I just read novel "Patriots".
Thank you for your wisdom and fortitude Mr. Rawles. It is a help to all that
visit your e-institute. - G. P
JWR:
I just got a very sick feeling reading the last e-mail posted by D.O.. You
know, I've been prepping for 8 years and have never gotten to "that
place" that many on survival sites I visit seem to live in. The "kill
everyone syndrome, because all that matters is me!" I read the news
and see many new stories about how there are tent cities going up everywhere.
Now, being a Christian I cannot bring myself to want to kill just because
someone is homeless. This is the mentality I see from gangs in the news.
You do realize that many people had 20% down and have now lost their jobs?
And there will be many many more very soon as I am not near as optimistic
as JWR is. Shall we kill them all? What kind of nonsense is this? We are
headed in a very scary place to say the least. These people will have no
where to go and tent cities are on land owned by someone (I'm assuming public
land which is another "forbidden" according to many survival sites.)
Therefore when you lose your property it is an instant death sentence? Frankly
it sickens me to hear this. No, I don't expect people to hand over everything
they've worked for but boy, oh boy, wait until those who
think they have covered
their backside find themselves in the same scary situation as many
of these folks. Lets see, there are people who have worked for many years
and saved by putting money in their 401(k)s. Just because
the government will seize (that's what I call it) this savings and spend
it just like they have the
Social Security money, you believe that this person, responsible or not,
should be shot when he finds he can no longer pay the mortgage? Whether he's
paid one payment past his 20% down or 10 years worth, he can still lose his
home. And I would like to remind you people that think that you have some
great secret to life, the tax man may come knocking and your gold may just
be worthless. Read Ezekiel 7:19 "They shall cast their silver in the
streets , and their gold shall be removed : their silver and their gold shall
not
be able to deliver them in the day of the wrath of the Lord: they shall
not satisfy their souls, neither fill their bowels: because it is the stumbling
block of their iniquity."
Yep, I will protect my family and would kill if I saw a true threat to one
of them (as the Bible allows), but I'm so very tired of the macho "survivalist" that
I see on forums and their most sickening lack of thought to human life. If
the building is truly abandoned then kudos to 100 moving in! Get over yourself,
let others know that your place is not welcoming to them.
But please stop lending no hope to people that while in need today may be your
savior tomorrow. Realize
that you
can
prep
all you
want but the Big Guy upstairs is watching and He
is the Judge! - Stephanie B.
