There is no recourse for stripping a home before it gets forclosed on. So technically you are not stealing. I think it’s worse if you vandalize the property out of anger before you leave. Stealing something from a person or store for resale is wrong. I have many moral dilemmas with people stripping the property before they leave, but I’m not sure I would turn down a good deal as long as they didn’t illegally take the items. The banks made bad loans out of greed. The previous owner made easy money selling at/near the top of the the market. Who is the bad guy here? Is it the bank? Is it the previously owner? Is it the FB/seller? The loan officers/brokers took advantage of the market. The previously owner took advantage of the market. Now the FB is left holding the bag and is only taking what legally belongs to them. I’m not sure why there are so many bad feelings towards these FB’s. I’m going to take advantage of their misfortunes by buying a house at/near the bottom (hopefully), so should I have any moral conflicts for taking advantage of a bad situation?