Trashouts

What fun.

Jack O’Leary has seen foreclosed homes where ex-owners put paint on the carpets, anti-bank graffiti on the walls or took everything but the kitchen sink - then stole that, too.

“I’ve gone into houses where the light fixtures are gone, the toilets are gone, the kitchen is gone. And when I say ‘gone,’ we’re talking stripped down to the bare walls,” said O’Leary, a Brockton Re/Max real estate agent who specializes in foreclosed homes.

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Agents say that while they can’t condone vandalism or theft, they sometimes understand the frustration - or desperation - that leads to such acts.

“Some of these homeowners were victimized (by scam mortgages) and have legitimate gripes,” O’Leary said.

But the agent also recalls one case where a foreclosure “victim” had two new SUVs, a 25-foot boat and a 45-foot motor home parked in the driveway.