Local man claims valuable classic car parts taken during foreclosure

Bill Coyle is on the verge of losing his home of 17 years to foreclosure, and that’s not the worst part. 

The Lutz man claims between $200-300 hundred thousand dollars worth of automotive parts, tools, and equipment stored in his garage from his defunct Corvair restoration business have been removed from the now-vacant Vandervort Road home by an unidentified company working for his lender.

The catch is while Coyle's house in foreclosure, the court has not yet ruled on his lender’s (GMAC) request to take possession of the home. “I screamed bloody blue murder but it didn’t do any good,” Coyle tells the I-Team.

Coyle says the items were removed after GMAC hired a company to secure the premises. “It's mind-boggling there’s a shadowy network of so-called property preservation specialists who are literally kicking in doors in neighborhoods around the country,” says Coyle’s attorney Matthew Weidner.

Weidner says companies are using provisions in home owners’ mortgage agreements allowing them to inspect and secure properties if mortgage payments are longer than 45 days delinquent.

Coyle, who now lives in Land O Lakes, says he was maintaining the property.

Among the items he claims were taken were custom parts made 30 years ago including engine cylinders, and connecting rods, for the corvair, as well as air compressors, and air jacks. Coyle says he’s attempted to find out where the parts and equipment are now but every time he calls GMAC “They won’t tell me anything,” Coyle says.

Weidner says he currently has at least a half dozen clients with homes in foreclosures with similar stories of their homes being broken in and cleaned out even though the courts have yet to officially foreclose on their properties. Weidner says those clients have mortgages through a variety of companies. “The challenge is to get judges and law enforcement to understand the problem and do something about it,” says Weidner.

Weidner says when homeowners call police to their homes report what’s happened they are often told it’s a civil matter.

James Olecki, a spokesman for GMAC says the company only became aware of Coyle’s allegations last Friday and are “trying to get our hands around it.” Olecki says the company has received a copy of a police report Coyle filed detailing the missing items and questions whether the value of the property is as much as Coyle claims.

Regardless, Olecki tells the I-Team, “We are reviewing the file and looking into the situation.”