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'Sharpie Parties' Fuel Rampage on Foreclosed US Homes
CNBC ^ | 16 Aug 2012 | Reuters

Posted on 08/17/2012 7:08:31 AM PDT by Abiotic

In the age of Facebook and Twitter, a new crime has hit America: "Sharpie parties," gatherings of revelers armed with "Sharpie" magic markers and lured by social media invitations to wreak havoc on foreclosed homes.

Five years into the U.S. foreclosure crisis, Sharpie parties are a new form of blight on the landscape of boarded-up homes, brown lawns and abandoned streets. They are also the latest iteration of collective home-trashing spurred by social media.

At least six Sharpie parties were reported in one California county in recent months, where invitations posted online drew scores to foreclosed homes.

The partygoers are handed Sharpie pens on arrival by their hosts and urged to graffiti the walls - a destructive binge that often prompts other acts of vandalism, including smashing holes in walls and doors, flooding bathrooms and ripping up floors.

snip

(Excerpt) Read more at cnbc.com ...


TOPICS: Extended News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: foreclosures; housing; recovery; sharpieparties; vandalism
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1 posted on 08/17/2012 7:08:35 AM PDT by Abiotic
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To: Abiotic

Inhuman Animals lashing out blindly


2 posted on 08/17/2012 7:10:28 AM PDT by GraceG
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To: Abiotic

Easy way to put a stop to all of that. They are no better than looters....Shoot to Kill.


3 posted on 08/17/2012 7:14:08 AM PDT by dfwgator
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To: Abiotic
the end of civilization.

now 3rd world plagues like west nile virus are sweeping the US

when are we going to STOP this insane influx of foreigners into our country!!!

4 posted on 08/17/2012 7:15:36 AM PDT by TexasFreeper2009 (Obama lied .. the economy died.)
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To: Abiotic

Kids...... the same ones that voted for Obama in 2008....at least now they have something else to do besides worship/vote for “The ONE.”


5 posted on 08/17/2012 7:15:46 AM PDT by Forty-Niner (The barely bare, berry bear formerly known as..........Ursus Arctos Horribilis.)
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To: GraceG

How are the Occupados going to re-occupy homes and reclaim them from Eeeeeeevil Capitalist Bankers if their own 99%ers keep destroying them?


6 posted on 08/17/2012 7:17:15 AM PDT by Buckeye McFrog
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To: GraceG

People are terrible creatures aren’t they.

Who would even waste their time doing something like this.

I was walking my dog on 84th street last night in Manhattan and this fellow around my age (I’m a young 30), came strolling aroudn the corner with an “Obama” t-shirt with his name and face on it.

Without even thinking I laughed right in his face (a true gut reaction to the sight of this).... he said “what?” I said “I’m sorry that was rude, I shouldn’t mock the pathetic to their faces, that isn’t classy”.

He didn’t get it and looked befuddled.


7 posted on 08/17/2012 7:20:00 AM PDT by Individual Rights in NJ (Infidel Inside)
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To: TexasFreeper2009

The government is doing this on purpose, so it won’t be stopped, just expanded..I.E the articles about the long DREAM applicants.


8 posted on 08/17/2012 7:21:01 AM PDT by Individual Rights in NJ (Infidel Inside)
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To: Abiotic

interesting way to get back at the foreclosing bank....post a party at 36 Elm Drive, tonight at 11:00pm...


9 posted on 08/17/2012 7:22:40 AM PDT by B212
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To: Abiotic

This is why people were put out on the street with little notice years ago, and why employers give notice and walk employees to the door.


10 posted on 08/17/2012 7:27:03 AM PDT by Chickensoup (STOP The Great O-ppression)
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To: Abiotic

for later


11 posted on 08/17/2012 7:27:45 AM PDT by Doctor 2Brains (If the government were Paris Hilton, it could not score a free drink in a bar full of lonely sailors)
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To: dfwgator; All
Easy way to put a stop to all of that. They are no better than looters....Shoot to Kill.

You do know there's nobody living there, right? Those houses now belong to the banks.

I doubt there's a state in the union that lets you shoot to kill purely in defense of property.

I don't think what the "Sharpies" are doing is right, but shoot to kill? Out of proportion.

12 posted on 08/17/2012 7:28:56 AM PDT by backwoods-engineer (My game is disruption. I will use lethal force --my vote-- in self-defense against Obama.)
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To: Abiotic

I guess I just do not understand this stuff.

I own a home. I took out a mortgage. I have been paying it for almost 19 years now.

The bank fulfilled their obligation to me. If I lose my job, I do not expect the bank to really take a huge hit. If the value of my home drops, I don’t expect the bank to forgive me.

I appreciate the anger of someone losing their home...but I just don’t get the anger directed at the banks.

Last time I worked at a bank, we did not put guns to anyone’s head.


13 posted on 08/17/2012 7:29:57 AM PDT by Vermont Lt (I am NOT from Vermont. I am from MA. And I don't support Romney. Please read before "assuming.")
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To: Abiotic

Banks sit on property to keep the “value” on the books. They should sell and take the hit but nooo. I would love to own a house in Kalifornia at a reasonable price, so would a lot of people.


14 posted on 08/17/2012 7:31:07 AM PDT by central_va ( I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn.)
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To: GraceG
"Usually [the banks] leave the damage and just drop the price," Krotic said.

I don’t think for one moment my position on this is going to go over well, but I’m still going to stir the pot a bit this morning with my opinion.

Home prices out here in CA are still very high. It’s not as bad as they used to be but still quite unaffordable to any first time buyer. The general sentiment among the younger population is quite pessimistic when it comes to owning their own home. A college bound student has little hope of buying a home and High school dropouts or simple GED holders are in an even worse situation.

Now, I’m not saying this behavior is justified, but I am saying it may be in part due to the frustration of being priced out of the market manifesting it’s self in the form of vandalism. Frustrated and angry youth with nothing to lose and nothing to gain will do a lot of damage.

Ironically, vandalism like this actually drives down the value of the homes and makes them more affordable. It’s a bit of a stretch but in a way this is the market correcting an overprice condition – albeit in an unpopular and unlawful way.
15 posted on 08/17/2012 7:32:07 AM PDT by chaos_5
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To: TexasFreeper2009

The answer is DDT! The mosquito population of the world was under control from the use of this insecticide as was Malaria until 1962 when the leftist tree hugger Rachael Carson wrote her book “Silent Spring”. Millions around the world have died because of the knee jerk reaction banning the use of DDT in mosquito control because of the allegations that were made in the book, many of which have never been substantiated by credible research.


16 posted on 08/17/2012 7:34:28 AM PDT by Big_Harry (Ecc10:2 "A wise man's heart is at his right hand; but a fool's heart at his left")
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To: Abiotic

A short stint in jail or a few months probation isn’t going to impact these morons. Put them into forced labor camps until they pay for the damage they’ve done.


17 posted on 08/17/2012 7:34:51 AM PDT by MEGoody (Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.)
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To: Big_Harry
until 1962 when the leftist tree hugger Rachael Carson wrote her book “Silent Spring”. Millions around the world have died because of the knee jerk reaction

Sadly she was a Pittsburgh native, and the liberal Democrat skulls o' mush around here have named a bridge after her.

18 posted on 08/17/2012 7:37:10 AM PDT by Buckeye McFrog
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To: central_va
Banks sit on property to keep the “value” on the books. They should sell and take the hit but nooo.

Buy a bank. . .then you can run it any way you want.

19 posted on 08/17/2012 7:37:55 AM PDT by MEGoody (Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.)
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To: Abiotic

seems like a way to manipulate short sale purchase prices.

One sharpie party and presto, instant 10-20 grand discount.


20 posted on 08/17/2012 7:40:33 AM PDT by longtermmemmory (VOTE! http://www.senate.gov and http://www.house.gov)
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