Foreclosure News

Interesting article in the NY Times from the other day - the rich are walking away from their high-priced mortgages at a staggering rate. 1 out of 7 homeowners with loans over 1 million dollars are delinquent on their payments.

Why are the rich leaving their homes at a greater rate than those with smaller mortgages? There are many reasons, but one strong one seems to be that they see it more as a strategic business decision with the best benefit to their bottom line.

Worth the read - visit the article on the NY Times site: Biggest Defaulters on Mortgages Are the Rich

Last month, 81,312 homes were lost to foreclosures, according to a report released today by
RealtyTrac, an online search engine for foreclosed properties. This brings the total to over 850,000 homes that have been repossessed by mortgage lenders since August of last year.

In September, nearly 266,000 borrowers received notices of some type of foreclosure filing - like a default notice, auction sale notice and bank repossession. That is a 21% increase than the number of notices sent in September 2007.

Rich Sharga, Realty Trac's Vice President issued the following statement, "We have never seen a foreclosure cycle like this one before. In this cycle, we have foreclosure problems that have caused an economic downturn."

Nevada once again had the distinction of holding the nation's highest foreclosure rate - one out of every 82 homes in that state were under foreclosure.

Florida had the second highest rate, with one in every 178 homes in default, and California came in third place, with one in every 189 homes in peril.

The city of Philadelphia last week unveiled a plan to stop people from losing their homes through foreclosure as more borrowers struggle with higher payments under adjustable-rate subprime loans.

The new plan, which city leaders say is the first U.S. program of its kind, requires houses that are placed up for sheriff's sale to first be referred to city officials who can work with lenders to restructure the loan so the borrower can remain in the property.

Philly Sheriff John Green, whose office is responsible for auctioning foreclosed properties, has delayed auctions that had been scheduled for April and May until July to give homeowners additional time to negotiate with their lenders.

The number of foreclosure filings in Philadelphia rose about 18% to 6,237 in 2007, and it is expected to increase even further this year, according to projections.

Philadelphia's mayor, Michael Nutter, believes that the program, which has attracted $2 million in city funding, will help stop payment problems before they reach the point of foreclosure, and urged residents to come forward before they get a foreclosure letter from their lender.