Cats on a bank-owned roof: Bobcats claim foreclosed house

The foreclosure market is getting wild in Lake Elsinore: "Taking advantage of a slump in local real estate, a family of bobcats has moved into a foreclosed Lake Elsinore home, lolling about on fences and walls and riveting an entire neighborhood."

More, from the L.A. Times' David Kelly:

Neighbors first noticed the feline squatters Aug. 27 hanging out on a side wall of the empty house in the Tuscany Hills development.... The foreclosed home is one of several on the block. Its lawn is brown but still being watered by the sprinklers. The house sits right up against barren, chaparral-covered hills.

At least two adult bobcats and perhaps a litter of young ones appear to be occupying the house. Residents have mixed emotions about their new neighbors.

Personally, I like this cat foreclosure story better than the story of Princess Chunk, the 44-pound New Jersey cat who was briefly homeless -- but apparently never hungry -- because of foreclosure.

On a more serious note, Lake Elsinore is teeming with foreclosed houses -- MDA DataQuick counted 425 foreclosures in Lake Elsinore in the second quarter of 2008.

That said, many of you are seeing the humor in this item. Here are some of the better comments you've added to this post:

SMRR wrote, "It's like that History Channel special, Life After People. Riverside's going to become the #1 wild animal park in the united states."

Gary in Marysville Michigan wrote, "Someone should notify the DEA.  They could be guarding a major catnip growing operation."

Click below to see more reader comments.

 

Kosher Krab wrote, "Those bobcats are probably thinking of ways to sue the builder for that faulty stucco."

Bottomfisher wrote, "They could have easily qualified for a loan last year....now they just squat."

sfvrealestate wrote, "I think these animals just got tired of trying to time the bottom of the market and decided to make the move."

notta wrote, "They'll be skinned by the lender just like all the rest of us...just wait !!"

-- Peter Viles

Your thoughts? Comments? E-mail story tips to Peter Viles.

Photo: Karen Brown via Los Angeles Times

Comments

[The Rose]

Hey we took the land from the indians and then gave some land and housing back. Now the animals are wanting their share back too.

[anonymous]

.......on the next episode of Full House with Bobcat Saget......

[KatManDu]

This will take care of the roaming pets problem and some folks won't have to spend money on a spay and neuter
program for their pets. The demand for Pet Walkers will
go up, I'll bet. Maybe they could trap and breed them and
rent them to urban areas that have pigeon problems?

[Jeannie]

It seems the land is returning to the wild.

[Frank Bosher]

I wonder who is THEIR lender......

[DG]

Someone is feeding them.

[ray]

I guess with all the tree huggers in ca. they won't be able to ever sell this house because you would be displacing the poor hairy critters.

[Steve from IL]

what are the adverse possession laws in CA?

and do they apply to animals?

[Daisy Girl]

Cool - would make good target practice for the hunters out there!!

[Smitty]

leave em be, they keep the rats down, rats & mice carry lots of disease.

[Dan]

Bobcats versus the Barracuda Bankers---this should be good!

[Lou]

Another example of "predatory lending" ending in an REO.

[phreetoz]

Leave it to the liberals, and they're probably get a loan, they can just go to court and get a liberal judge to give them the house.

[Mike Ryley]

But. but.but,
don't they know it takes thousands of years for nature to
make a comeback after mankind detroys the natural habitat ??

[Dennis]

Are the bobcats an endangered or threatened species? If so, what are the legal implications trying to remove the bobcats? If everyone just agrees to simply sell this foreclosed house last out of all the others that litter (hmm... a pun) the landscape, will the bobcats leave on their own when it is time?

Conservative republicans will certainly be against this possible disruption of human commerce. But religious conservatives will learn to put up to it because they are the only couple in the neighborhood who aren't going through a divorce.

Liberal democrats will celebrate biodiversity in the neighborhood for awhile until the bobcats refuse to pay their property tax increase. The last straw will be when the bobcats choose home schooling for the cubs instead of sending them to the public zoo.

[twinstick]

Guess whoever buys that property will have to claw there way into it...

[Thomas]

Thats awesome! But im sure somebody will go shoot them now that its on the news.

[upside guy]

You know they have to eat something. I bet there aren't many stray cats, field mice, rats or possums in this zip code anymore.

Didn't Jim Baker (tele-evangelist extrodinaire) build an air condition dog house for his cannine, now he's been one upped by California. An entire house just for wildcats, somehow this seems fitting as an icon for the mad upside down real estate business and the whole twisted declining U.S. economy. The rich get richer and the middle disappears, soon USA = Mexico, is Canada next?

[CD]

Could they be trained to attak realtards ? There is a Holloween movie in this.

[sunsetbeachguy]

I wish I could import some Bobcats to the Beach to take care of the stray cats relieving themselves in my yard.

My wife won't let me shoot the cats defecating in my garden, she says it sets a bad example for the 2 yr old boy.

[Tufr]

Well this looks like a pretty good case of adverse possession.

Tufr

[Fred]

Wow, every time I read a story that touches on foreclosures in any way, someone has to say nasty things about the lenders.

It frightens me that people are telling other people they're so stupid they couldn't read a mortgage contract and grab a calculator to do the math,

Personally, I think ,many of these people in foreclosure saw this buyer created "crisis" as an opportunity to get out of an obligation.

I'm now living in my second home in 10 years and I have an ARM that starts adjusting in 1 year. Guess what? I MADE SURE I CAN AFFORD THE PAYMENTS AT THE MAXIMUM RATE THE LOAN CAN GO!

[Mike in Chamblee]

It's George Bush's fault.

[Dennis]

As a landlord, they remind me of some tenants I've had. Lay around all day, don't pay rent, and roam around all night.

[sdb]

Damn those things are big. I live and hunt in Alabama. I've never seen any bobcats that big. They would make a nice trophy for the den. Sorry, I don't mean to offend all of you bleeding-heart-do-gooders out there. Well, actually I do.