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In the News

Million-dollar house in foreclosure for years

Keith and Janet Ritter have battled against eviction almost from the moment they moved into their five-bedroom, 4,900-square-foot manse along the Potomac River in Fort Washington, Md.

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Keith and Janet Ritter inside their home in Fort Washington, Md. In five years, they have never made a mortgage payment, a fact that amazes even the most seasoned veterans of the foreclosure crisis.

Michael S. Williamson / The Washington Post

The Ritter's Fort Washington home. They have kept their home for so long by repeatedly filing for bankruptcy and by exploiting changes in Maryland’s laws designed to help delinquent homeowners avoid foreclosure.

The Ritter's Fort Washington home. They have kept their home for so long by repeatedly filing for bankruptcy and by exploiting changes in Maryland’s laws designed to help delinquent homeowners avoid foreclosure.

Michael S. Williamson / The Washington Post

Interior of Keith and Janet Ritter's Fort Washington home. Efforts to protect homeowners have transformed Maryland’s foreclosure process from one of the country’s shortest to one of the longest. It now takes on average 634 days to complete a foreclosure in Maryland, compared with 132 days in Virginia.

Interior of Keith and Janet Ritter's Fort Washington home. Efforts to protect homeowners have transformed Maryland’s foreclosure process from one of the country’s shortest to one of the longest. It now takes on average 634 days to complete a foreclosure in Maryland, compared with 132 days in Virginia.

Michael S. Williamson / The Washington Post

View looking toward the family room from the living room at the home of Keith and Janet Ritter in Fort Washington. Critics, including economists and lenders, blame Maryland’s go-slow approach for a growing backlog of foreclosures and a weak-to-nonexistent recovery in home prices.

View looking toward the family room from the living room at the home of Keith and Janet Ritter in Fort Washington. Critics, including economists and lenders, blame Maryland’s go-slow approach for a growing backlog of foreclosures and a weak-to-nonexistent recovery in home prices.

Michael S. Williamson / The Washington Post

The living room in the home of Keith and Janet Ritter in Fort Washington. The Ritters have tried to negotiate different payment arrangements with their lender to save their posh home near National Harbor, they said, but to no avail.“It was never our intention to get here and never make a mortgage payment,” Keith Ritter said. “We don’t believe in living for free.”

The living room in the home of Keith and Janet Ritter in Fort Washington. The Ritters have tried to negotiate different payment arrangements with their lender to save their posh home near National Harbor, they said, but to no avail.“It was never our intention to get here and never make a mortgage payment,” Keith Ritter said. “We don’t believe in living for free.”

Michael S. Williamson / The Washington Post

View looking toward homes of neighbors from the living room at the home of Keith and Janet Ritter in Fort Washington. The Ritters bought their house for $1.29 million with almost no money down.

View looking toward homes of neighbors from the living room at the home of Keith and Janet Ritter in Fort Washington. The Ritters bought their house for $1.29 million with almost no money down.

Michael S. Williamson / The Washington Post

Janet Ritter in the dining area of their Fort Washington home. The Ritters make no apology for using every tactic available to them to stay in their house, including challenging the foreclosure sale in court and requesting mediation.

Janet Ritter in the dining area of their Fort Washington home. The Ritters make no apology for using every tactic available to them to stay in their house, including challenging the foreclosure sale in court and requesting mediation.

Michael S. Williamson / The Washington Post

Bible verses are marked that pertain to debt and forgiveness on a table in the Ritters’ home in Fort Washington.

Bible verses are marked that pertain to debt and forgiveness on a table in the Ritters’ home in Fort Washington.

Michael S. Williamson / The Washington Post

Keith Ritter has a business, Beat It Movers, that involves eviction services, property preservation and cleaning of foreclosed homes. Here, he checks out some ceiling damage in one such home in Fort Washington. Ritter gets the irony of working for some of the same banks that have foreclosed on him. But he has to make money somehow. “All I know is real estate,” he said.

Keith Ritter has a business, Beat It Movers, that involves eviction services, property preservation and cleaning of foreclosed homes. Here, he checks out some ceiling damage in one such home in Fort Washington. Ritter gets the irony of working for some of the same banks that have foreclosed on him. But he has to make money somehow. “All I know is real estate,” he said.

Michael S. Williamson / The Washington Post

Keith Ritter moves belongings from a home he once owned where the renter had left. During the boom, the Ritters set out to become mini real estate moguls, buying properties and flipping them for a profit. Then, when the housing market tanked five years ago, the couple found themselves facing multiple foreclosures.

Keith Ritter moves belongings from a home he once owned where the renter had left. During the boom, the Ritters set out to become mini real estate moguls, buying properties and flipping them for a profit. Then, when the housing market tanked five years ago, the couple found themselves facing multiple foreclosures.

Michael S. Williamson / The Washington Post

Keith Ritter moves belongings from a home he once owned with workers Thomas Golden, center, and Fred Moody, right. Ritter defends his tactics to keep his million-dollar home in Fort Washington. “Anytime anyone tries to take your home,” he said, “you are going to use the legal system to save it.”

Keith Ritter moves belongings from a home he once owned with workers Thomas Golden, center, and Fred Moody, right. Ritter defends his tactics to keep his million-dollar home in Fort Washington. “Anytime anyone tries to take your home,” he said, “you are going to use the legal system to save it.”

Michael S. Williamson / The Washington Post

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