Archive for the 'cities' Category

Stockton bank foreclosures continue to attract public attention nationwide not only because of the image of Stockton as epicenter of the first wave of foreclosures but also because of its continued high ranking in charts of mortgage defaults and foreclosure rates.

In the first 6 months of this year, Stockton still occupied fifth place in a ranking of metro areas clobbered by high rates of foreclosures. Nearly 13,000 households received default or foreclosure notices from January to June, indicating that nearly 6 percent of all households in Stockton are in the foreclosure process.

Stockton’s foreclosure rate of one in every 18 households in the first 6 months of the year was slightly lower than its rate in the previous quarter, but Stockton continues to be battered by unemployment and poverty problems that arose from the flood of foreclosures that swept the whole San Joaquin Valley.

According to a recent study of 100 metro areas by Brookings Institution, 4 of the 5 metro areas with the highest unemployment rates in June are all San Joaquin Valley metro areas, and Stockton is one of them.

The same study also found that Stockton had the highest increase in poverty rate among metro areas, pushing more housing units into lists of Stockton bank foreclosures. The poverty rate rose to 16.8 percent in Stockton, up from 14.1 percent.

The other metro area most affected by poverty is the Lakeland-Winter Haven area in Florida, where the poverty rate rose to 15.4 percent from its previous rate of 12.7 percent. The Florida metro areas of Tampa-Saint Petersburg, Bradenton, Orlando and Palm Bay also experienced increases in poverty rates.

Because of the economic challenges being faced by Stockton, Stockton has been the tenth stop of the Obama administration’s nationwide Making Home Affordable Program campaign in September.

Officials from the U.S. Treasury Department and the Housing and Urban Development and representatives from Wells Fargo-Wachovia, American Home Mortgage Servicing, GMAC, Ocwen, Indymac Mortgage Services, Chase and Bank of America held a workshop to help families facing foreclosure.

The workshop aimed to reduce monthly loan payments to 31 percent of their monthly income. Troubled homeowners who were able to bring complete documents that include loan papers, tax returns, paycheck stubs, car loan papers and other financial documents were able to get help.

Still, many distressed Stockton homeowners have chosen to walk away, according to the California Mortgage Bankers Association.

The number of homes in bank foreclosure sales scheduled for the coming months in Louisville, Kentucky has been increasing, based on foreclosure data from the Jefferson County Circuit Court.

Court officials even contend that the total foreclosures by the end of 2009 will hit a record level for Louisville because of the rising unemployment rate throughout the city.

According to Dan Albers, Jefferson County master commissioner, officials handling home foreclosures expect more foreclosures in the next 12 months because of the rising number of people without jobs.

Out of the 4,377 foreclosed properties scheduled for sale, about 2,142 will be sold off, according to Albers. He said that some homeowners are able to rescue their homes before the properties get sold.

Albers also said that Louisville reached its record number of foreclosure sales in 2007, when it sold a total of 2,093. Sales dropped slightly in 2008. If his prediction of 2,142 units will be sold off, Louisville will break its 2007 record foreclosure sales.

According to Uric Dufrene, financial economist for Indiana University Southeast, the 10.3-percent jobless rate of Louisville has been driving the rise in mortgage defaults in the city, pushing more homes into bank foreclosure lists.

Dufrene said that the number of homeowners who have missed at least 3 monthly payments in Louisville in the second quarter has risen, compared to the same quarter in 2008.

Kentucky and Indiana were both hit by job cuts in the manufacturing sector, with their unemployment rates both surpassing the nationwide August unemployment rate of 9.7 percent and the September rate of 9.8 percent.

Kentucky’s jobless rate increased in August to 11.1 percent while Indiana’s rate rose to 9.9 percent.

Compared to other cities, the foreclosure rate in Louisville was lower during the first 6 months of this year, based on data released by a research firm.

But foreclosures are affecting lower-income families, especially single mothers who have to work, care for their children and study at the same time to improve their income-earning abilities.

What worsens their situations is the reluctance of lenders to help them weather the recession. One single mother whose home loan was modified to a lower monthly payment recently received a letter from her lender that it is proceeding with foreclosure despite the successful modification.

The state of Kentucky and the city of Louisville have launched their own efforts to help troubled homeowners, but their efforts have not prevented many homeowners from going into bank foreclosure.

Bronx bank foreclosures in the area’s multifamily sector have been soaring because of the large number of overleveraged multifamily buildings in the area, based on a report from the Citizens Housing and Planning Council and affordable housing nonprofits Urban Homesteading Assistance Board and Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development.

According to the council, there are about 100,000 apartment units in multifamily buildings which were acquired at sky-high prices during the boom. Now, building owners cannot pay their commercial loans because of sharply declining rents and lack of tenants.

Based on data gathered by the nonprofits, many multifamily loans are maturing within a year, increasing concerns that the rate of foreclosure of apartment buildings in the Bronx will equal the pace of the housing collapse that occurred in New York in the 1970s.

Among these buildings are the Fordham Towers and the Robert Fulton Terrace which were acquired by investor Robert Karasick in 2007 at a sky-high price despite obvious damages and need for costly repairs.

Karasick bought the buildings for $36.5 million with a loan from CIBC, which insisted that the price was justified. It was found out later that monthly operating costs were cut by half to inflate projected earnings.

Despite reduction of service and maintenance costs, the buildings still entered lists of Bronx bank foreclosures when Karasick could no longer pay his huge loan.

Other Bronx buildings that recently went into foreclosure are the ten buildings acquired by California-based Milbank Properties during the housing boom in 2007 at inflated prices. Milbank said it acquired the properties because it believed in the gentrification of the borough and in the significant improvement of the tenant base.

According to a recent report from Deutsche Bank, at least 67 percent of all commercial mortgage-backed securities maturing by 2018 are being rejected for refinancing because of the drop in property values. These loans account for $410 billion of all commercial loans. It also added that more than 80 percent of commercial buildings bought in 2007 with loans are now valued far below the amount of their mortgage loans.

There are also building owners who took out loans that enabled them to pay only the interest for the first 3 to 5 years. Hudson Realty Capital is one of them. When these loans adjust to their fully amortizing schedule next year, there is much concern that these owners will not be able to afford the payments.

The increase in the number of Denver bank foreclosures is partly to be blamed for the drop in homeownership in Colorado. Census data showed that incomes in the state have risen steadily from 2000 to 2008. But despite the increase, homeownership in the state dropped significantly.

The Citizens Bank decided to suspend an auction on the office property placed on Boston bank foreclosures after no one top its bid of $1 million.

The number of Atlanta bank foreclosures notices filed in the first 9 months of this year has already surpassed the total figures for last year. Industry experts said that the dramatic increase in the number of foreclosure filings indicated a deepening recession and unemployment problem.

San Antonio bank foreclosures rates were just enough to propel the city to top the Brookings Institution’s study of the economic performance of 100 metropolitan areas across the United States in the second quarter.

Homeowners are already burdened with finding ways to avoid Charlotte bank foreclosures. Now, they still have to be more vigilant as fraudulent foreclosure prevention schemes are spreading fast across North Carolina.

Owners of the 25-story First National Building are under threat of Detroit bank foreclosures after they defaulted on their almost $22 million loan.

Board associations have found a way to collect overdue payments from condominiums under Tampa bank foreclosures. Many condominium associations have filed for blanket receivership which requires tenants of foreclosed units to pay their rents to third-party receivers appointed by the court.