Portrait of a home ATM: 1424 Innsbruck, Lake Arrowhead

This is what a home ATM looks like. Lake Arrowhead is a resort area a couple hours from Los Angeles that is a popular weekend getaway.

The owners at 1424 Innsbruck hit the jackpot, apparently taking the bank for $590,000 in cash plus a couple hundred thousand in depreciation.

Look at this history:

Sep 15, 1989 Sold $160,000
Oct 13, 2005 Sold $785,000
Apr 02, 2009 Sold $1,374,996
May 05, 2009 Foreclosure Listed $810,000
Jun 19, 2009 Price Changed $699,000
Jul 11, 2009 Price Changed $599,000

Now, I don't have access to title or loan data, but the most likely scenario here is that the April "sale" is not a real sale but the trustee's sale, where the bank took it back and the $1.375 million is what was owed at the time.

So the owner bought for $785,000 at the peak of the bubble, then managed to swindle the bank out of another $590,000 (likely based on a fantasy valuation from a crooked appraiser).

I'm curious who the bank, the borrower, and the appraiser are. The FBI ought to be curious too. These people managed to walk away with $590,000 -- more than most people are able to save over their entire careers.