UPDATE:
The bank which accidentally foreclosed on the incorrect home and wrongfully repossessed all of the owner's stuff issued a statement saying it wants to compensate Katie Barnett "fairly and equitably for her inconvenience and loss."
Yet at a fundamental level First National Bank of Wellston, OH seems to have a unique take on what is "fair" or "equitable."
For starters, the bank is balking at paying her the $18,000 that Barnett reports she's lost.
In an interview with 10 TV news, Barnett said that bank officials asked her for receipts for all of her repossessed items.
"First of all, I don't have receipts for all my stuff, and second, if I did, where do you think they would be?" Barnett said. "In my house with my belongings."
Additionally, Barnett told 10 TV that the bank offered her a replacement Boflex Ultimate, for which she paid around $2,300. The only catch is that this workout machine was found curbside in someone else's trash.
Barnett said she declined the bank's offer.
Still, First National is insisting it acted in good faith. The lawn was overgrown, the utilities were shut off, and the door was unlocked. Bank representatives just chucked out what they thought was unwanted stuff.
That's not a good enough excuse for Barnett, however (or for pretty much anyone else who's invested themselves in Barnett's story).
Barnett said she just wants her stuff back. And she's lawyering up to try to get it.
More to come as the story unfolds.
*****
Talk about a vacation horror story.
An Athens County, OH woman came home from a two-week summer vacation to find that a local bank had accidentally foreclosed her house and repossessed all of her belongings.
A representative from First National Bank apparently mistook Katie Barnett's home for a house across the street and cleared the place out while she was away.
Barnett said the locks had been changed and she had to crawl through a window to enter the premise.
The worst part of the story is that when she called the police and notified the bank (which isn't even her bank), neither made moves to help, 10 TV reported. The police closed the case after finding out that a bank in a neighboring county had made the error.
When she presented the bank with an $18,000 estimate of her monetary losses, bank officials reportedly declined to compensate Barnett for her retail losses.
“He got very firm with me and said, ‘We’re not paying you retail here, that’s just the way it is,’” Barnett said in an interview with 10 TV. “I did not tell them to come in my house and make me an offer. They took my stuff and I want it back..."
“Now, I’m just angry,” Barnett said. “It wouldn’t be a big deal if they would step up and say ‘I’m sorry, we will replace your stuff.’ Instead, I’m getting attitude from them. They’re sarcastic when they talk to me. They make it sound like I’m trying to rip the bank off. All I want is my stuff back.”
Unbelievable.
You can check out Barnett's full interview with 10 TV below:
