Mob Responding to Cragislist Ad Rob Foreclosed Vercher Family
Craigslist Responders (Perhaps) Unintentionally Steal From Family After Foreclosure
If it wasn’t bad enough that a Georgia family lost their home of 20 years, it got even worse thanks to a mob responding to their Craigslist ad.
Tuesday night the Vercher family posted an ad announcing as they prepped for their pending move, they’d be giving away some household items at 10 a.m. Wednesday.
They planned to put those free items out in the driveway.
But they never got that far.
People who had seen the craigslist ad showed up at the house before the arranged time and before the home owners arrived to setup the planned giveaway.
When Michael Vercher showed up, it was already too late.
Someone had broken into the house and the building, by then, was full of people helping themselves to the family’s belongings.
“Everyone was inside the house; they were taking out items,” The homeowner told 11 News. “There were cars around the block. It was like ants in and out of the house.”
They took all the families clothes, their shoes, their guitars, even family heirlooms.
And unfortunately, due to the size of the crowd that gathered, local police have said it will be nearly impossible to determine who initially broke into the house and paved the way for others to pick things over.
The homeowner’s summary was heartbreaking:
“Lived in this house for 20 years, my whole life,” he said. “It’s our family home. We have to get out because of the foreclosure. We don’t have much and now we have even less. You’d like to think there’s good people. I mean, I hope they would have a good enough heart to bring our stuff back. We don’t hold any grudges against them, we just want our stuff back. I mean, some of that stuff is irreplaceable.”
A Good Reminder
As foreclosures continue to impact families as the U.S. economy makes a gradual climb, it can be easy to shrug away statistics. Especially if we’re not the 1 in every 730 housing units that received a foreclosure filing in the United States recently (source).
This family’s story is a call to alertness.
And let’s live with a focus on sharing blessing. To resolve that if we do have food, clothing and shelter, today might be a good day to set aside more trivial issues and adopt a mindset of gratefulness.
And to look for opportunities to let our excess, when we have it, benefit others.
For those who might be able to help the Vercher family, they provided an email address in case any accidental thieves wanted to return their items.mr.mykul (at) gmail (dot) com
If you or someone you know is at risk of foreclosure or are worried you’re not going to be able to keep up with mortgage payments, here are some of the relief programs available.
[Read more about the Craigslist foreclosure house here: 11 News]
Terry Weaver October 25, 2012 (12:08 pm)
Thanks for sharing this Sarah. What a dark world we live in. It is so easy to look at stats and just see numbers, but forget that those numbers represent people. I was at an event yesterday and heard stat that 59% are doing something and broke my heart then I thought that 1% should effect me just as much as 59%.
Sarah October 25, 2012 (12:23 pm)
Thanks for commenting, Terry. I hear you. We tend to try to look on the bright side–at least it’s only 1 out of 730–which IS good. But that can sometimes make us take our eye off the 1 who needs support. Good word.
Ella October 26, 2012 (1:49 pm)
Sarah- This post should be a wake up call to al of humanity. Thank you for making us aware of some of the random acts of selfishness that prevail, even in hard economic times. We all need to become more vigilant to look for ways to help our fellow neighbors and humanity, rather than to “kick them when they’re down.” It is so very sad to think where we are headed as a society when we have no compassion. What message would it have given this wonderful family if instead people showed up with giving hearts and offered donations, prayers, meals…
Is there a method set up where we can offer a donation?
May God Bless this family. Mr. Vercher could have spoken words of hate and unforgiveness, and yet he did not stoop to the same level of the opportunists/victimizers. He gave them the benefit of the doubt. Indeed he and his family will be blessed for living through integrity.
~Ella
Sarah October 26, 2012 (3:16 pm)
Thanks, Ella. There wasn’t a method for donation at the time the article went live, but I’ll check and see if they’ve set up one. =)