In the age of Facebook and Twitter, a new crime has hit America: "Sharpie parties," gatherings of party revelers armed with "Sharpie" magic markers and lured by social media invitations to wreak havoc on foreclosed homes.
Five years into the U.S. foreclosure crisis, Sharpie parties are a new form of blight on the landscape of boarded-up homes, brown lawns and abandoned streets. They are also the latest iteration of collective home-trashing spurred by social media.
At least six Sharpie parties were reported in one California county in recent months, where invitations posted online drew scores to foreclosed homes.
The partygoers are handed Sharpie pens on arrival by their hosts and urged to graffiti the walls - a destructive binge that often prompts other acts of vandalism including smashing holes in walls and doors, flooding bathrooms and ripping up floors.
The California spree follows a similar outbreak earlier this year, when teenagers wrecked homes in states including Texas, Florida and Utah after seeing the movie Project X. The film features a house wrecking party sparked by online invitations.
Anna Hazel, an investigator in the Merced district attorney's office in central California, said the use of social media is a very effective way for partygoers to find the address and to track the progress of the party.
It also provides a treasure trove of evidence for the police.
Hazel said in her most recent case of "extensive destruction" to a foreclosed property, the host of the Sharpie party posted an invitation to "Matt's House of Mayhem" on a Facebook page.
See How One Home Was Trashed During a 'Sharpie Party'
At least 100 people turned up. Hundreds of smartphone text messages describing the party were also sent.
They drank alcohol, scrawled profanities on walls, smashed glass, tore up parts of the house and left garbage strewn everywhere.
"We obtained search warrants for Facebook accounts," Hazel said. "It was very useful to us to get access to the social networks. They posted pictures of the party. They were brazen about it."
Three men, aged 21, 24 and 30, were arrested on suspicion of felony vandalism, burglary and conspiracy. One of them was the son of the evicted former owner.
"The Sharpie party is the newest twist here," said Larry Morse, the district attorney in Merced County, California. Morse said he has investigated vandalized homes after six "Sharpie parties" in recent months.
Andy Krotic, a Californian realtor, said: "It's a growing fad among young people, especially the Twitter crowd. They throw a big party, everyone gets a Sharpie, and they are invited to write on the walls and spray paint."
Krotic said in one recent case partygoers shot arrows through the wall, hitting a room in a neighbor's house.
Banks that own the foreclosed homes are reluctant to pursue the perpetrators, Krotic says, because they don't have the resources to hunt down the miscreants. Even if they're caught, the unwanted publicity from their prosecution would likely incite more parties.
"Usually they leave the damage and just drop the price," Krotic said.
Are you kidding me? "I don't condone..." but in THIS circumstance? Really? That's as bad as Oh, my neighbor is a jerk, and therefore I don't care when someone spraypaints his house, and poisons his dog, though I normally don't condone graffiti and animal cruelty. Geesh!
And I don't feel a bit bad for the banks who often foreclosed on people, fraudulently, and are now suffering the consequences of their illegal actions.
NOw all the sharpie party goers need to do is STOP leaving a trail. Keep the parties going and make the banks pay... but stop advertising enough were you get arrested. develop a code and keep it simple. Do the damage...have fun and leave the bank with the clean up....They deserve to eat it.....rock on
This is a shame ,and one of the reasons that our country is going down the toilet .Of course the people in charge have lost all credability also ,and there is not enough good people like in past to stop this. What kind of society is this when people are encouraged to create havoc instead of using skills to create a better community.You know come to think about it they should hunt every one of them down ,and throw the book at them hmmmm . When they let people do these things it sends a message to people playing by the rules that it dosen t pay to do so .Lock em up they are probably from a family with resources .They get a taste of prison life maybe they change their tune
The banks should not have foreclosed on the people then this would not happen. Also, the banks should not let houses sit for months on end and do nothing with them. If they are just going to let the houses sit unoccupied then what is wrong with letting the owners of the house continue to live thier even if they cannot make payments? Its the banks fault.
Sure... it's the bank's fault. No problem that the people didn't pay their mortgage and violated their contract which results in the loss of the asset. They should live rent-free. Sure. What has liberalism done to this country? How destructive, on every level.
The only time the banks listen is when it hurts their profits. They have had no human compassion at all for those they threw out onto the streets. The trashing of the long vacant foreclosed homes is a message they will actually hear because it reduces their profits (although not by much). The kids are sending the message most adults are too wimpy to send ..."oh the terrible kids ... oh why don't they sit down and take the beating like we do ..." Maybe some don't want to see it this way, but it takes courage to buck a corrupt system and believe me, the kids know about the consequences and risk them anyway.
The sad about this foreclosure houses is that they are worth nothing to beging with. Americans do not have any idea about how to build houses. They are nothing but toothpicks joint together by plates, they painted over. They a carpet and then they $250.000 for a piece of crap. Then come thw Realtors and jack the price everytime the house is sold. The American society have serious problems that nobody can solve. between their religious messed up believe, their racism and their greed for wealth, America has serious social problems.
It's sad that this is all people have to entertain themselves. The punishment should be that they spend hundreds of hours doing community service- helping fix up houses for habitat for Humanity- probably homes they have trashed! and picking up garbage on the side of the road and painting over graffiti at a local playground. They need entertainment, stimulation and an outlet...have them do something helpful and constructive. Let them turn that into a party!
These sharpie partiers are sending a message to the banks that foreclosed on the families who lived in the houses and kicked their friends and relitaves out on the street.
I'm pretty sure these parties are not quiet or peaceful. People need to call the police when they see cars parked outside an empty house. If there are lights on (flashlights or whatever) and you know the house is abandoned- make the call. A trashed house will bring down the whole neighborhood.
Some of this anger towards the unseen bank or mortage lender is taken out on the hoiuse. "You won't HELP me keep my house? You want it soooo bad, well here it is!"
The working 98% people don't count with the rich! Be careful who you vote for in this election. It will be class genocide tax breaks for the rich and increased taxex for the middle and lower classes.
The working 98%? Sorry, but half of them pay no federal income taxes. I don't want to be associate with them, thank you. I have no problem with people who make more than I do. It's called life. There will ALWAYS be a 1% and 2%. You would know that if you paid attention in 3rd grade math.
I don't condone this behavior, but can easily see both sides. The banks want their money and need to foreclose when people stop making payments. Otherwise many more people would stop paying their mortgage. On the other hand, it's easy to understand the extreme anger many people feel having been kicked out of their homes. Many lost their homes because of circumstances beyond their control. This is especially true of the kids and young adults that are committing this vandalism. In the end, these houses that were once homes sit vacant and ruined while so many lives are forever changed. Very sad.
lol its fuuny how you people think this is a NEW trend... people have been trashing vacnt houses forever.. when i was a kid we did it once and i know many other kids in my school did it all the time... i know we didnt have social media so we couldnt throw a party but it was still done... now the neighbors shouldve called the cops but whatever they dont care because its not their home. And for those of you judging my mom was an awesome mother who disciplined me and had rules and was there for me and cooked for me and was damn near tv perfect, i had a good upbringing, i wasn't drinking or on drugs, its called being a teenager... some of you adults can forget what it was like so easily and quickly its pathetic. Now with that said I know its wrong and when I did it I knew it was wrong thats why i destroyed one thing and then confessed I felt terrible but lots of other kids continued to break in and completely destroyed the home and any other vacant home in the neighborhood. I wish people would stop but they never will.
