Foreclosures - Foreclosures March On Relentlessy

Foreclosures March On Relentlessy

April 16th, 2008

There seems to be no respite from the onslaught as foreclosures march on relentlessly across the country.

Ohio continues to be one of the worst hit regions ranking among the top ten offenders. RealtyTrac, noted online tracing agency said that Ohio showed 11,273 in some stage or the other of foreclosure. Foreclosure is a legal process and it starts with a notice sent out to the defaulting borrowing. If this does not produce results and the borrower continues to falter in payments then he or she becomes delinquent. At this point the lender sends a foreclosure notice. Within a certain time dues have to be cleared otherwise the house will be sold at a court auction and the bank will realize dues. If the house fails to be sold off at the auction then the bank takes over possession of the house. Ohio’s figures calculate to one house out of 448 units being in foreclosure. Of the total number of filings 3,742 were notices of litigation, 3,918 were notices of sale and 3,613 were bank owned repossessions.

Ohio occupies the 7th rank among the top ten foreclosed states. This March witnessed an 8% rise from the previous month of February and a huge 37% jump from March of the previous year of 2007. The first rank went to Nevada with one foreclosure for every 139 units. California however was tops as regards the total number of foreclosure listings with 64,711 in March; this read one foreclosure for every 204 houses.

The national rate of foreclosures was one filing for 538 units – an increase of about 5% from February and a whopping jump of 57% from March of the previous year. The Bank repossessions were also rising by 129% and so too were auction notices going up by 32%. Many offending borrowers were just walking away by returning the property to the lenders. This process is known as the deed-in-lieu of foreclosure. It stops the process from continuing on to the auction stage.

The foreclosure virus is spreading the infection to touch all sections of society cutting across socio-economic lines. No longer is the borrower the sole victim. Deserted houses are causing problem for the lenders who do not know how to meet the snow balling rise in meeting foreclosure expenses, maintenance and tax demands. There is no money coming in and many mortgage houses are seeking shelter in bankruptcy.