A little-known San Antonio company has built an enterprise that profits from others’ misfortune. DTND Sierra Investments LLC has bought about 250 properties from homeowners associations that have foreclosed on residents who didn’t pay their HOA fees. Some of those homeowners fell behind because of financial troubles caused by job loss or health problems. The company buys the houses at monthly foreclosure auctions on the Bexar County Courthouse steps, usually bidding just a dollar more than what homeowners owe the HOAs in delinquent dues and legal fees. Over the past three years, DTND has spent nearly $575,000 at auction to buy 186 houses with a combined assessed value of about $28.6 million.
At last month’s foreclosure auction, DTND bought six houses for an average price of $4,165. Their assessed values range from $94,570 to $297,730. DTND then does one of the following: It rents the property to the former homeowners or negotiates with them to reclaim the property, often making a tidy profit, sometimes in just a matter of days; or it evicts them — if they haven’t abandoned the home already — and leases it to tenants. Read more:
http://www.mysanantonio.com/business/local/article/Homeowners-loss-is-firm-s-gain-4832738.php