Coachella Valley homes vacated due to foreclosures are being stripped of more than just their occupants and decor.
Authorities say thieves are stealing large household appliances, such as refrigerators, stoves and air conditioners.
“It feels like an invasion on a house you don’t even own yet,” Palm Springs Regional Association of Realtors President Scott Newton said.
While some items are stolen by people who break into the vacated foreclosed homes, others are taken by occupants as they move out of the building.
And because a bank owns the home by that point, the former occupants could be arrested on burglary charges, Indio Police spokesman Ben Guitron said.
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This is a complicated question. Some people just abandon their homes leaving an easy target for thieves!