March Foreclosures Jump 57%
Foreclosure filings for March rocketed 57% from a year earlier and rose 5% from February, a foreclosure listing service said, a sign that U.S. housing woes have yet to slacken. RealtyTrac said there were 234,685 foreclosure filings in March, or one for every 538 households.
Chief Executive James J. Saccacio said many defaulting homeowners “are simply walking away and deeding their properties back to the foreclosing lender.” The process allows the bank to take the property without a foreclosure auction. As a result, bank repossessions have more than doubled, while auction notices are up only 32%.
The nation’s highest foreclosure total belonged to the most populous state — California — for the 15th straight month, with 64,711 filings, more than double a year earlier and up 21% from February. It was followed by Florida, Ohio and Georgia. Ohio and Georgia both registered increases, with more than 11,000 foreclosure filings in both states. Nevada had the highest foreclosure rate, also for the 15th straight month, with one foreclosure for every 139 households. It was trailed by California, Florida and Arizona. –Andrew Edwards
Deed indeed
When I review the numbers and the Americans that are potentially being displaced from their homes, I have to ask are these part of the 1-2 million workouts that political pundits point to as success? It appears that banks, brokers, real estate professionals, the media, and the government are all using different statistics in an effort to demonstrate their points and progress. If these numbers continue to get worse for those that may not be the “speculators,” what downstream impacts are yet to be faced by the mortgage industry and this country? If mortgage firms have delegated their workouts to legal teams and third party profit centers, then I fear these numbers will get worse. After all, how many of these foreclosure families ever got a call or sat down with a workout specialists before legal proceedings actually began?
Not to sound like a broken records, but why are these workouts are necessary? Mortgage is a contract. Honor it, else surrender the asset. These “workouts” are undermining the soundness of American contract law and environment. The potential negative impact of these “workouts” may be far greater than any of these “donwstream impacts”, which are just pure spin anyways. The burden would then have to be shouldered by future home owners. It’s not about the statistics, but pure business logic - honor the legal contract, or get out. Else, we would have to adjust everyone’s mortgage contracts quarterly, depending on the economic conditions at the time? How do other taxpayers get it on this lucrative action?
I still can’t afford a home in S. California!!!!!!!!!! F@*k speculators.
