BofA Mistakenly Seizes Home, Says Suit; 75 Lbs. Of Rotten Fish Leaves "Gooey Mess" Says Owner After Power Shutoff Creates "Halloween Horror"

In Galveston, Texas, The Galveston Daily News reports:

• A West End property owner is suing Bank of America Corp., asserting its agents mistakenly seized a vacation house he owns free and clear, then changed the locks and shut the power off, resulting in the smelly spoiling of about 75 pounds of salmon and halibut from an Alaska fishing trip and other damages. Dr. Alan Schroit filed the lawsuit [...] in Galveston against the bank with which he has neither a relationship nor a mortgage. Schroit, a retired professor at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, is suing for wrongful invasion of his house [...] in the Pointe West subdivision.

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• Agents working for Bank of America cut off power to the property by turning off the main switch in the lower part of the house, according to the lawsuit. They also changed the locks, so Schroit was unable to reach the switch to turn the power back on, according to the lawsuit. The Schroits called the police and finally managed to get into the top part of their house, only to be hit by an “overpowering putrid smell of rotten fish,” according to the lawsuit. [...] “It was the most unbearable stench,” Schroit said. “It was so unbearable the police officer asked if we could leave the house so he could take the report; it was absolutely horrible, a gooey mess.”(1)

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• Schroit’s lawsuit is at least the second in which Bank of America has been accused of seizing the wrong house. According to an Oct. 30 article in the Floyd County Times [see Man sues after bank takes wrong house], a Wheelwright, Ky., man filed a lawsuit against Bank of America for repossessing his home by mistake and refusing to pay for damages other than replacing the locks. “Christopher Hamby arrived home on Oct. 5 to find the locks on his doors changed and winterization chemicals placed in the plumbing and various lines cut at the residence,” according to the article. Hamby also did not have a mortgage with Bank of America, according to the article.

For the story, see Lawsuit accuses bank of seizing wrong house.

(1) According to the story, the lawsuit alleges that “The property sustained water damage, potential mold contamination arising from the standing freezer residue, water, heat and high humidity conditions during the time the electrical power was off.” Schroit reportedly said he kept doors and windows open for days to try to rid the house of the foul odor and that cleanup efforts were substantial. The floors had to be cleaned, as did the joists of a lower-level ceiling, through which fish blood seeped, and some painting had to done to get the house back to a “preinvasion” state, according to the lawsuit.

Scroit said that, as a result of Bank of America's agent's handiwork, he had to cancel a fish fry he was planning for about 30 of his closest friends on Halloween weekend, according to the story. His attorney reportedly dubbed this alleged fiasco "Halloween Horror." misidentified foreclosure