OK, well, maybe it’s not how it sounds. No one’s been put in jail for taking off their clothes at home.

No, this Arizona man didn’t bare it all. Instead, he did what a lot of folks do when their home loan is being foreclosed: he stripped his home of anything and everything of any estimable value.

I’m not talking about regular possessions. The man had every right, of course, to take his couch, his TV, and his collection of 1920s-era magazine advertisements for ladies’ undergarments. That is, assuming he actually owned some of those items.

No, this man removed things like the bathroom sinks, the water heater, air conditioning units, doors, cabinets and even the garage door opener.

This practice, also known as “stripping,” isn’t all that uncommon. Sometimes, when a bank forecloses on someone’s property, they’ll even go so far as to remove a furnace or even pipes and wiring from the home.

Stripping (of this kind, anyways) is also highly illegal. The fixtures in a house are considered part of the house itself. Even if you’ve installed, let’s say, a new faucet in your kitchen, it’s now part of the house. You could, of course, go buy a cheap faucet, remove your expensive one and replace it with the cheap one. In most cases, that’s not going to be worth the time and trouble involved, however.

These stripping crimes often go unreported. The Arizona man was caught when a neighbor noticed the man taking items from the home. The man had actually hired or brought several people to help him move things from the home.

It’s worth noting, too, that in this case the stripping took place after the home had already been foreclosed. It wasn’t in danger of foreclosure or about to be foreclosed, it was already through the process.

Photo via pinguino