Ohio's #1! in foreclosures (3x nat. avg.), and new bankruptcies filed

[Algorem]

Posted on Sun, Sep. 18, 2005

http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/news/state/12680089.htm

Report: Mortgage brokers, appraisers fueling foreclosure increases

Associated Press


COLUMBUS, Ohio - Aggressive mortgage brokers and appraisers are contributing to the rising foreclosure rate in Ohio, where mortgages fail more than any other state, The Columbus Dispatch reported Sunday in the first part of a four-part series.

More than 59,000 foreclosure notices were filed in Ohio last year. In the first half of 2005, 3.3 percent of state home loans were in foreclosure, more than triple the national average, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

An analysis of federal data by The Dispatch shows that more Ohio residents are borrowing many times their annual income or taking interest-only loans with payments that increase sharply after a few years.

Brokers and appraisers who profit regardless of whether loans succeed or fail are laying the foundation for foreclosures, the newspaper reported. And consumer advocates say lax state oversight is only building on the problem...



http://www.thisweeknews.com/thisweek.php?edition=common&story=thisweeknews/090805/Clintonville/News/090805-News-5627.html

Guest column
Home foreclosures are on the rise

Thursday, September 8, 2005

Richard Cordray


For many Americans, homeownership lies at the core of our American Dream. The last U.S. Census found that 66 percent of Americans and 69 percent of Ohioans own their own homes.

Clearly, one of life's most disturbing events is the loss of one's home through foreclosure. Having worked so hard to reach this goal, it can be devastating to have it slip away.

This is the first of a series of three guest columns on this issue, which is becoming so critical to many of our families and all of our communities. For today, we focus on some of the primary reasons why home foreclosures occur.

Foreclosure is the legal means by which a lender can take a property due to default on the mortgage payments. (Tax collectors, like myself, can also foreclose on a property if the taxes go unpaid, but due to recent changes in how my office collects real estate taxes, we rarely file any tax foreclosure actions against homeowners in Franklin County now.)...

[Kolesar]

1. That dork Greenspan was encouraging variable-rate mortgages a while ago

The "Chief" is such a shill for the banking industry & Wall Street. Of late, he is saying "you should not have bought variable rate mortgages".

[enid602]

2. OH

Home prices in Ohio are probably about a third of what they are in CA, NY. Most of the foreclosure activity so far in GA, NC, SC, MO, TN. Once foreclosures hit NYC, SF, Boston LA; then you'll really see the economic impact. Could be a bumpy ride.

[AndreaCG]

5. I bought my apartment as a foreclosure 13 years ago

no need to evict anyone fortunately.

Am eyeing another one but doubt the other party will be dumb enough not to have their certifird check with them which is how I got mine, or else I would have easily been outbid. This time I make sure everyone has their check from the start.

[orion9941]

3. The more I hear about stuff like this...

The more I am ashamed of being from Ohio. First in bankruptcies and foreclosures and last in education...thats just freaking wonderful.

Ya know, my partner has been wanting to move out of this state for a while now but I have been resistant to the idea since I have lived in Ohio all of my life and could always find some silver lining for living here...I must say that it is getting harder and harder to not want to move to another state at this point.

I suppose things would be better if someone could save us from our republican overlords that have run this state into the ground.

[mongo]

4. Please stay and fight

We need you. Welcome to DU!

[pro_blue_guy]

6. Well

This state has been run into the ground, but the only option is crawl out of that hole. It will happen some day, when Dems regain control.

[lizziegrace]

7. I'll find the link

but Dominion Homes leads the packs in foreclosures by builder.

You're right, we have nowhere to go but up.

[lizziegrace]

8. Dominion Story link

• Dominion’s two-year default rate is the highest in the nation among homebuilders with mortgage divisions that handled more than 1,000 Federal Housing Administrationbacked loans. It ranks fifth among all types of large lenders.

• The company leads the state in the number of homeowners who defaulted on FHA loans within two years of closing: 221 between August 2003 and July 2005.

• 11.5 percent of Dominion’s customers in Franklin County have fallen more than three months behind on their FHA mortgages in their first two years of homeownership. That’s nearly 2½ times the national figure. At least half of Dominion’s customers have government-backed mortgages.

• Nearly a third of the Franklin County houses and condominiums built since 1998 that have been listed for sheriff’s sales involved Dominion buyers, a Dispatch analysis found. Of the 1,253 new homes sent to public auction, 395 were built by Dominion and 295 by its larger competitor, M/I Homes.

• Since 2000, Dominion is the only central Ohio builder whose mortgage practices have raised red flags at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which insures FHA loans. HUD auditors found violations that included false or undocumented income levels for buyers.


Link found at http://www.columbusdispatch.com/reports-story.php?story=dispatch/2005/09/19/20050919-A1-01.html