Destroy Or Remove Fixtures From Foreclosed Property And Go To Jail. 

Under Penal Code section 502.5, a borrower under a loan secured by real estate may not intentionally harm the lender by removing statutorily specified improvements from the encumbered premises.  Defendants, a husband and wife, were convicted of violating section 502.5 by taking fixtures from their foreclosed home. A jury found an enhancement of “great taking” under Penal Code section 12022.6 to be true because they damaged property worth $65,000. They were sent to jail for nine months and placed on probation for five years.  The trial court instructed the jury with Civil Code section 660’s definition of “fixture.”  On appeal, the defendants contended the word “fixture” is unconstitutionally vague in § 502.5.  The appellate court didn’t buy the argument and affirmed the judgments of conviction. (People v. Acosta (Cal. App. Fourth Dist., Div. 3; May 12, 2014)226 Cal.App.4th 108.)