Foreclosures are mocking dreams in Sorrento Springs. Once this four bed roomed house overlooking a golf course is now a white elephant. On the doorstep lies a torn wet phone book. Wasps have built nests on top of the main entrance. Weeds are multiplying on the driveway hiding the bricks. The house stands empty and deserted just like many others down the road of Terragona Drive.
Once upon a time not too far ago it was a flutter of nest building activity amidst the lush surroundings of Lake County’s rural ambience. It had all the trappings of peace and luxury – golf course, club house, tennis courts, walking paths and planned rows of dozens of new houses not more than the two storeys high. Like many others in Florida this region was about to bloom when suddenly spring vanished ahead of time. The cold hands of foreclosure descended creating havoc. Dreams turned to the nightmare of foreclosure.
Investors gambled with the rising price curve of real estate and lost. Families faced trouble when with the collapse of the construction industry many lost jobs. The gas and fuel crisis stoked the flames of catastrophe. Families are now without homes, children without friends, renters without shelter – all because lenders are foreclosing on mortgaged house owners.
The fact that this is happening all over the country does not give comfort to septuagenarian Enid Watts who settled in Florida in 2005. They were among the first settlers on Terragona. Now they have no idea who is moving around in the house next door. It gives an eerie feeling. Hope keeps life moving. Edna puts her mind on a rose garden she is tending to but a feeling of instability is gnawing at their hearts. How long will they be able to avert the same fate of being foreclosed upon? The prices of houses are falling like ninepins.
Another victim of foreclosure fears is thirty one year old Ufuoma Omosebi a schoolteacher and the mother of four children. In 2004 she moved into Terragona Drive with her Nigerian American husband expecting her second child. It was a 3,000 square feet spacious dream. Only the extra upgrades had cost them $40,000. But then her husband had to move to North Carolina because of his job. She tried to sell the house for the appraisal value of $425,000 but couldn’t get a customer even after bringing it down to $330,000. She gave up the fight of paying $2,000 each month and moved away. Foreclosure moved in.
The crisis raging across the country means opportunities for many. Scammers are using foreclosures to cheat potential renters.
It is happening right across the country – the story of one family in Vallejo is just a repeat. A family is renting a house, which is not owned by the person who claims to be the landlord. It is like the footage from a film. This kind of thing is nothing new – it happened during the seventies when there had been plenty of foreclosures. The vultures swoop in when there is a surfeit of bank-owned units lying scattered around. The sheer number of units makes it impossible for realtors to keep individual track of them constantly.
The scammers first replace the locks, get rid of the For Sale signs and touch up the house with cosmetic changes. Then they lure in potential renters by taking deposit money, two months rent (the first and the last) and then vanish. They even list the property in the newspapers – confident that it will not attract of the concerned party. Such is the magic of sheer weight of foreclosure numbers for these cheats.
They offer to the renter what appears to be a nice deal. Agreements are signed and it is given to them then and there as soon as the cash changes hands. The people move in and set up home. It is only much later that the bank’s agents stumble upon them while going on their rounds. The tenants are surprised beyond limits; so too are the banks. Eviction becomes unavoidable.
Brian McPherson of Tipp Realty at Glen Cove says that from his experience he has learnt that these types of con artists hits several houses simultaneously, pockets as much dollars as they can and then exit the locality leaving the duped renters to face the consequences as best as they can. The results can be far more dangerous than just being evicted. By filling in forms the renters give away to the cheats sensitive information about their banks and assets. The most tragic thing is that most of those who have moved in as renters have suffered the fate of losing their houses to foreclosures. Vultures however, will always find a way to take their pickings whenever the opportunity arises.
There have been other instances when foreclosed borrowers themselves rent out their property to take in as much money as possible before surrendering to the inevitable.
The foreclosure chain of action and reactions have become all too common – house is bought via mortgage route, borrower cannot afford to keep to commitments, lender or bank forecloses, property lies vacant blighting the locality until the court tries to auction it off. If it is not sold then the bank repossesses it and tries to sell it.
In recent years one of the worst victims of this foreclosure scenario is Madison County. Recently the focus has been on Elmwood where as much as 7% of the houses that are owner occupied are in foreclosure. In June there are 400 units lying vacant. In a city of only 2,508 owner-occupied units, the percentage is alarming – to say the least.
In Pendleton the foreclosure story continues in the same vein. Nearly 8% of the owner-occupied houses are in foreclosure. In Anderson the number is 5%. The epidemic is national and not just confined to Madison County.
When jobs go and pensions fall sometimes foreclosures become inevitable. The only solution is pulling up the economy with jobs and better social security. A county wide aggressive exercise in local development is the call of the hour. The other reasons for rising foreclosures is irresponsible borrowing as well as predatory lending.
Presidential candidates McCain and Obama have both outlined plans for tackling the foreclosure crisis primarily by cracking down on unethical lending. McCain suggests that those owners who live in their mortgaged houses should switch over to manageable mortgages. He also advocates the setting up of a judicial task force that would investigate and penalize fraudulent practices in the mortgage world. Obama proposes tax breaks for foreclosure victims by doling out $5 billion for those who earn less than $50,000 annually. He chalks out an expenditure of $10 billion for counseling and for enabling local administration to work with grass root organizations for preventing foreclosures. He also wants a Federal Housing Administration that will encourage the conversion of floating interest mortgage to the conventional fixed rate category. On pen and paper both the plans are bold and deserve merit but to translate it into action will require dipping into the taxpayers money.
For the moment Madison County is concentrating on making available paying jobs and tightening procedures against fraud by lending bodies together with setting up of counseling agencies. The great American dream of owning a house has become a nightmare of foreclosures in Madison County.
This year the property tax defaulting cases have increased in Merced County by about 3%. This means that the defaulters will be slapped with late fees and the county has to take a loan to keep on its rails. This is a new fall out of the foreclosure crisis in Merced County – something that will inevitable catch on to other regions.
Karen Adams is the treasurer and tax collector of Merced County. She comments that here the situation is similar to that of many Central Valley counties. There are innumerable foreclosures and that means taxes are falling behind. It translates into less funds for the administration. The amount is staggering. Karen Adams estimates that above $20 million is due from property taxes. Most of the defaulters are foreclosed property owners – the latter being either the borrowers or the banks. The problem for the county is that it has to continue paying its dues to school districts and cities although its tax kitty is getting empty by the day.
The Auditor Controller of Merced County, Stephen Jones says that all the units know how much they are to get, and they also know that they will get it. But the problem is that the amount reaches them in June and not on the scheduled months of either December or April. The reserve amount at the disposal of the county is only for a limited short period. For the first time in a decade that reserve will not cover all the commitments.
Karen Adams bemoans, “Now we’re having to dip into county dollars to borrow to make sure all those taxes are paid whole.” Eventually all the money will be realized but it will be late. Some seizure operations will also be have to be undertaken. She hopes that a good number of house owners will avail of payment plans and other similar programmes being offered to help defaulters avoid foreclosures and meet their bill commitments. Adams added that her office is ready to sit down with the troubled foreclosure victims regarding payment plans. Moreover there are various other programmes for seniors and the physically challenged. She advised that those troubled by foreclosure should contact not only the office of tax collection but simultaneously also the mortgage companies as well as state legislators. She underlined that the worst thing to do is not to do anything!
Search California House Foreclosures
In California foreclosures have joined hands with fire and mosquitoes in a dance of destruction. In Northern California fire outbreaks have become common. Many are commenting that because of the phenomenal rise in fuel prices some are resorting to traditional methods of lighting a fire and that is causing these numerous accidents. Fires have stopped officials from spraying insecticide from the air. That has led to a victory for infected mosquitoes that inject both man and beast with a deadly disease. Mosquitoes are now breeding in the stagnant pools of empty foreclosed houses. West Nile infection is raising its ugly hood.
California has reported officially three human incidents of West Nile this year. Two were from Stanislaus County and one from the Central Valley (south of Sacramento) and the last one from Tulare County situated farther south of the valley.
In Sacramento-Yolo County a Mosquito and Vector Control agency stopped spraying mosquito insecticide from last week because of airborne sparks from fires raging below could combine with the pesticide and make it impotent. The agency hopes to start working again after few days from Wednesday.
The proportion of mosquitoes infected with the West Nile virus is rather high – the number being 10 in a thousand. It is a matter of grave concern remarked David Brown of Mosquito and Vector Control Association of California. He is also the manager of Sacramento-Yolo agency. The delay in spraying understandably has increased the population of bad mosquitoes in pools of foreclosed houses. The only plus point is that the smoke from the fires will be keeping the people locked inside their houses. But that is small comfort for those who are fighting the flames of foreclosures.
To fight the mosquitoes in these foreclosed pools the Sacramento officials and also in other regions of California are turning for help to a tiny fish – Gambusia affinis. The latter feasts on the larvae of mosquitoes. The fish is delivered to any householder who makes a request. The personnel of their own accord release the fish in the water bodies if realtors or neighbours report abandoned foreclosed houses that are not being maintained, said Luz Maria Rodriguez a spokes person of the district.
As yet complete and accurate figures of foreclosed houses having pools are not available. In Sacramento-Yolo district fish have been released in the pools of 2,000 houses this year. During the same time in the previous year it was 500 houses.
Posted on July 20th, 2008 in Foreclosures | Comments Off
A housing group in Lake County is threatening to halt foreclosure auctions by taking legal action. The County Council supported the proposal of the group of temporarily putting on hold house foreclosures, so as to give more time to the borrowers to try to save the houses that are their homes.
Sheriff Roy Dominguez contends that he is under legal obligation to follow out court orders and oversee the auction sale of foreclosed houses. As such his hands are tied. He and his office cannot do anything contrary to the law. Lake County Judge John Pera is sympathetic with the victims but he is reluctant to move away from the legal tradition.
ACORN representative of North West Indiana, Eric Weathersby said that this is not the real picture. The Sheriff has the power to postpone foreclosures, if he so wishes. ACORN or Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now is spread across the nation advocating the cause of the middle to modest income group. Weathersby argues that the Sheriff is giving more importance to the revenue that flows in from foreclosures and does not want to interrupt that. For each foreclosure process the office of the Sheriff realizes $200 from the lenders. Right now the foreclosure kitty contains $930,000.
Weathersby threatens that if the Sheriff does not co-operate then his group will take legal action to enforce moratorium on foreclosure sales in Lake County. He further adds that ACORN has been working satisfactorily with the Sheriff’s departments in many other states. Foreclosures have been postponed and the victims are getting time to recuperate their strength. The issue at stake is not just houses of bricks and mortar but homes with cooking fires burning and children playing.
Moratoriums have worked successfully in Philadelphia County said Ian Phillips of the Pennsylvania branch of ACORN. The county sheriff has postponed the April sales for another two months for those houses that are occupied by owners.
Meanwhile ACORN is organizing ‘Conciliation Conferences’ – meetings between the house owners, lenders and judges of the county. The result has been positive. 300 loans have been modified to more affordable terms with less interest (fixed) and more time period. Preference is given to those borrowers who can meet basic needs like food and utilities and yet have something left over for the house.
Since October 2006 there has been over 4,600 foreclosures – it being a part of the nHousing Group In Lake County Threatening To Halt Foreclosure Auctionational crisis.
Columbia County continues to be one of the top foreclosure offenders. Its tale of woes goes back to a time when the foreclosure numbers had not caught the attention of the media. Since 2001 the number of foreclosures have been quietly and steadily increasing. In 2001 the total was 343. That jumped to record breaking 603 numbers of new foreclosure postings in 2007. From the present trend it seems that this year the rate will out pace the previous year’s numbers.
The impact on the property market in the county needs to be looked at from different angles. From the auditor records of the county it appears that the value of houses continued to rise through the 2000’s with the average house being sold that 13% more than the appraised worth recorded in the county offices. The average selling price in 2004 was $91,110. It rose to $97,943 during the first part of 2007. These figures are applicable only to valid sales and not to distressed foreclosure sales. The ground reality is that there are many units sitting on the shop shelves unable to attract buyers.
From another set of numbers the same conclusions can be drawn. From 2004 to 2006 the number of houses sold varied from 936 to 974 per year. But they tapered down to 399 during the first six months of 2007. Beyond this time section statistics are not as yet available. The narrowing of the divide between sale prices for the valid sales and the appraised value recorded in the office of the auditor shows that the selling rates are slumping.
This slump in the real estate market is having a negative impact on tax collections. Foreclosures are the main reason for this. The calculation of property tax expected is calculated by taking into account the delinquency rate in the district.
However there is another confusing factor as stated by the county treasurer, Nick Barborak. If the foreclosed houses are sold then the tax is collected. So sometimes advance calculations are erroneous.
At board revision meetings the property owners can contest new appraised valuation of houses. About a third of the appeals for revision came from those who had purchased foreclosed houses from the banks at a value significantly lower than the value recorded in county offices. In these cases the board has no choice but to bring down the value to be in tune with the actual price of sale.
Foreclosures march on relentlessly gobbling up anything in its way. This time a family of fourteen members is the victims of foreclosure in Nevada. It is the sad story of a couple that lives with their twelve adopted children aged three to sixteen. The 3,400 square foot house in Spanish Springs of Dave and Kathy Bain is under the cloud of foreclosure.
Kathy Bain is traumatized. She is hemmed in with twelve children and needs another house having space to accommodate all of them.. In January 2007 the couple had set up home in this house. Since then they adopted nine children, eight of whom were siblings. Earlier they had taken under their wings three children. Till last September they had been unable to rent out their previous house. Last year Kathy had changed over to a part time job and then gave that up also as she wanted to devote her time and energy to the children. Dave does a part time job giving training to potential foster parents in the county. The stage was perfectly set for the next act – foreclosure.
When the Bains rented out their old house they thought that this would enable them to make the mortgage payments on the new house. But GreenPoint Mortgage is foreclosing on them because they owe the company $20,000 in arrears. In March 2008 they couple were notified about the starting of the foreclosure process. They applied but failed to qualify for hardship assistance. The sale has now been set for 30th July.
The representative of GreenPoint Mortgage, Tatiana Stead refused to comment citing concerns for privacy. She said that they deal with problems but each case is different from the other. She stressed that borrowers should contact them immediately without delay.
Kathy Bain feels they can go back to their previous house but the space is too cramped for a family of fourteen members. Some of the children had suffered from emotional before they joined the Bains family. On top of that the previous year had been rather difficult for them with foreclosure looming large in their everyday walking and talking. The Bains, from a local shelter meant for abused and neglected children, had adopted the eight siblings. Social workers in Washoe County recalled that this is a remarkable instance of one couple adopting eight. They had never seen the likes of it.
About a century ago Mexico lost Texas. Texas became a state of USA by a treaty of 1848 at the close of a three-year with Mexico. Today Texas foreclosures are helping Mexican buyers. Virgilio Garza is one of them who want a piece of his ancestral land back – and his willing to pay for it!
There are For Sale signs in Texas showing booted cowgirls wearing white hats. Garza came to the Monterrey Convex Centre in June to meet a realtor to buy foreclosed unites. 45-year-old Garza categorically stated that Texas was like his home. Many other Mexicans like him poured over lists. Garza owns business and property in Mexico. He and his partners are ready with $8 million to buy property in Texas and are optimistic about opportunities. Sophisticated businesspersons they surmise that this is the right time to strike. Everybody right now wants cash in USA and that is one thing the Mexicans have – their pockets are bulging.
In Mexico the economic climate is sunny with the peso rising and the economy running at a faster pace than that of USA. Taking advantage of the reigning foreclosure crisis in USA they are rushing in to snap up deals. The peso has overtaken the dollar by 3.2% since the start of this year. The economy in Mexico increased by 2.6% according to a survey conducted by a central bank. In contrast the economy in USA will grow by 1.4% in 2008 as per the study undertaken by 57 economists under the aegis of Bloomberg.
Marco Ramirez runs Now Co. of Texas. His business is to sell foreclosed houses in Texas to Mexicans. So far the company has bought 32 foreclosed units and 88 more are on the option list. Marco gives preference to Mexican buyers in Monterrey, which is 150 miles from the border with Texas. Many of the potential buyers have children studying in USA and are living in rented or leased accommodation. So for them it is a great time to make purchases.
The foreclosure picture in Texas is not as bleak as in California or Florida. Nevertheless the sale of houses here fell by 12% from what it was during the first quarter of the previous year. Texan foreclosures increased by 29% during the first three month of this year, with a foreclosure rate of 1:274 according to RealtyTrac. In the national foreclosure race Texas ranked 17th.
South Dakota is still relatively healthy as compared to other regions but Pennington County is seeing foreclosures rapidly going uphill. It seems that by September the numbers in these nine months will out pace the number of the full 12 months of the previous year. In 2007 there were 100 foreclosure postings but already 75 have been noted in 2008. Some of the units had a price tag of about $100,000. Another 40 were about to enter the zone but last minute agreements between the contending parties cancelled the schedule. A decade ago the annual average was 28 foreclosures.
One of the worst affected spots is Neighborhood Housing of Black Hills. It has been running since the last 10 years and had to deal with about only five to six foreclosures. But since 2007 Neighborhood Housing has witnessed 25 houses in need of help from the threat of foreclosure. Michelle Eddy of the organization commented that some are already in foreclosure while the majority is at grave risk.
Families in South Dakota struggling to meet the challenge of rising gas and fuel prices are in danger of failing to pay their mortgage dues. Terry Mills of Consumer Credit Counseling of Black Hills expressed serious concerns. The number of help seekers has multiplied recently. These folks are not in foreclosure or even lagging behind but they are apprehensive of the future. Mills explained that unlike places like Las Vegas they do not have the exact statistics but it is obvious that things are bad. Gas and food are putting pressure on housing; so too are increasing taxes. Thus the main issue boils down to rising foreclosures.
In the past two years Pennington County has seen sharp jumps in foreclosure numbers. It has been steadily rising – 2003 (61), 2004 (80), 2005 (71), 2006 (77) and till June 2008 there have been 75 foreclosures. However the state is still running well below the national average.
The end of the first quarter of 2008 saw 1.21% of the house loans being foreclosed. It was a modest increase from the previous quarter comments Mortgage Bankers Association. The national foreclosure rate is 2.47%. During the same three months, 2.89% of the house loans in South Dakota were lagging behind. It too was a modest decrease. The delinquency rate across the country is 6.35%. Even less number of first time buyers have gone into foreclosure – 1%.
