Update:
I took possession of the property on Thursday. Condition was as I expected, which is awesome. There were a fair number of holes in the walls and full sheets of drywall missing. The most surprising part was all the stuff. There were beds, clothes, the kitchen cabinets were full, toys, It was as though they just walked out.
The fun part came on Saturday though when I met the old owner. It was myself and one other guy there and we were just cleaning up and tossing everything into the garage for when the dumpster was coming on Monday. All of a sudden a car pulls up to the front of the house (parks on the street facing the wrong way) jumps out of his car, runs up the lawn and flings the front door open and flies into the house. Definitely startled me.
He began by yelling at me to get out of his house. I told him it was no longer his house and I have the deed and took possession on Thursday. I was thankful to have another guy there with me, because once he came out of the kitchen and saw there were two of us it calmed him down a bit.
He knew it was no longer his house because it wasn't too long that he then switched gears and began telling me how he got screwed on the house, first by the bank when he purchased, then the fire (which he started by having the grill to close to the house), which then caused him to get screwed by the insurance company, and finally got screwed by the contractor that did the work post fire which wrapped his "woe is me" story up nicely. I guess some people are perpetual victims.
We ended the conversation by him asking how he was going to get his stuff back. I told him I didn't know. He then left.
I called the sheriff and they sent a deputy out. I explained what happened and pretty much told me I had 2 choices. 1, do nothing and the guy is just out and I through all of it away. 2, schedule a time to let him come in and move his stuff.
I choose option 2 with come guidelines. There is so much stuff in the house it would take days to move it all out, which I can't afford to do. I have a dumpster arriving today at 12 with guys to haul everything out. So I'm allowing him to come in this morning from 9-12 and get the items most important to him. The sheriff will also be present during that time.
I called and told him the guideline and he was not happy. Asked me how he was suppose to move everything in 3 hours, I told him he wasn't, it was just to get the important stuff. Then he cursed me out a bit. He finished by telling me he was trying to be a nice guys but apparently I'm "all business" which I told him was accurate, this is a business for me and everyday I own this house I have expenses, I can't put the project on hold for 3 days while he moves his stuff. Especially since its been vacant since July 2015 and he knew this day was coming.
The very last thing he asked me was if the sheriff will be there, I said yes and he hung up. Needless to say the sheriff will for sure be there.
If its as much of an adventure today as it was Saturday, I'll do another update. Wish me luck!
