Posted on 12/08/2002 9:36:49 AM PST by RCW2001
Sunday, December 8, 2002By Paul Overeiner
Staff Writer
Once upon a time, a better time perhaps, the Jackson County Legal News typically published an eight-page edition four times a month.
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"About two or three years ago, we'd have a 12-pager every once in a while," said Ron Kohls, owner and publisher.
Last year, the weekly tabloid of county legal news had fattened up to 16 pages and so far this year three editions have filled 20 pages, Kohls said.
Bad times are bread and butter at the company's office at 304 Francis St., where foreclosure notices -- and personal bankruptcies -- have required additional pages.
"It's sad," Kohls said. "But like some other businesses, we flourish when others are having problems."
To date, the Jackson County Register of Deeds has recorded more than 400 sheriff's deeds, the final chapter in the foreclosure process. Last year, Register of Deeds Melinda Reilly said her office recorded 282.
"It has gone sky high," Reilly said.
The foreclosure rate here reflects a national trend.
In the three months ended in June, the Mortgage Bankers Association of America reports creditors nationwide began foreclosing on 134,885 mortgaged homes, or about four in every 1,000 -- the highest rate in the 30 years the association has been monitoring mortgages. Creditors' backlog of foreclosed homes reached 414,772, another record.
Simply put, lenders can foreclose on a home mortgage when the borrower no longer makes payments. The delinquent borrower is ultimately evicted and the lender regains legal title to the property, which can then be "recycled" and sold to a new buyer.
Once the property goes through the foreclosure process, most lenders have very little interest in working with the home buyer to help them retain ownership, said Joe Herndon, a regional manager for Greenpath Debt Solutions, formerly Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Michigan.
The property is listed for a sheriff's auction, but the home buyer still has a six- to 12-month redemption period in which he or she can still pay off the debt and other fees and retain ownership. At the end of the six-month redemption period, the owner typically will be evicted and the house will be sold at auction, with the lender setting a minimum bid.
Reilly said even though the county will end the year with more than 400 sheriff deeds recorded, that doesn't mean an equal number of families have been thrown out of their homes.
"A lot of times, they do redeem them," Reilly said.
But, according to city officials, too often the reality goes more like this: The vacated dwelling deteriorates, sometimes very rapidly, and the new owner, often an out-of-state lender, is not particularly responsive if the city issues repair notices. Ultimately, such properties can become candidates for demolition under the city's dangerous building ordinance.
Even if evicted, the borrower is still responsible for the debt and other costs, so a civil judgment may be imposed to collect those costs.
Dennis Diffenderfer, assistant community development director for the city of Jackson, first noticed foreclosures were increasing about two years ago.
"I review the legal news and foreclosures to track the city's housing stock and housing trends," Diffenderfer said.
Diffenderfer said he is alarmed by the increase because, for a number of reasons, foreclosed dwellings are much more likely to be abandoned and ultimately removed from the city's housing stock through demolition.
"I have eight right now, just from the past two weeks, that are bank foreclosures," Diffenderfer said.
Foreclosed homes are listed for sale once the occupant has been evicted, with the price based on debt owed and fees and legal costs. That can push the price well above what the property is worth, Diffenderfer said.
"So the properties sit and sit and sit and sit," he said.
Aside from the usual deterioration that sets in when homes are not maintained, many are vandalized while others fall victim to arson and some become home to any number of illegal activities.
Diffenderfer said the number of such homes coming to the attention of the city's building inspection department is growing.
"Once building inspection gets involved, under the dangerous building ordinance, for example, there are more fees added on and the property just gets sucked down and down and down," Diffenderfer said. "There are very few that get purchased and rehabilitated by a new owner."
Lenders prefer payments to vacant properties so they usually allow a brief grace period for a home buyer in arrears, said Amanda Lent, a certified credit counselor at Greenpath, which has a Jackson office at 211 W. Ganson St.
"Generally most mortgage companies don't take action until the third payment is missed," Lent said. "But the farther behind you get, the harder it is to catch up."
Theresa and Richard Raymond of Jackson appeared to be on course to losing their home a couple years ago.
Both were employed -- she as a bakery manager at an area supermarket, he at an area manufacturing plant. But unexpected bills, including those resulting from repairs needed at their Clinton Road home, and the arrival of their son, produced drastic changes.
The financial crunch came when Theresa took three months off from work to care for their newborn son.
"Within two years, we got married, bought a new house and had a baby," Theresa Raymond said. "We just got ourselves too far in debt."
They started to get notices that their truck would be repossessed. They fell behind in their house payments. The couple soon found themselves juggling bill payments, making some, missing others.
"To pay this bill, we had to cut that bill," Theresa said.
The Raymonds finally turned to Greenpath, which worked with credit card companies to lower interest rates and set up a payment plan. Theresa Raymond said they pay the agency $50 a month for the service, but it's worth it to avoid all the hassles of juggling bills.
She said she and her husband are not proud of the debt they accumulated, and even with Greenpath's assistance it will take a little more than two years before they are in the clear.
But the couple felt morally obligated to take responsibility for their outstanding bills. Filing for bankruptcy and walking away from what they owed just wouldn't be right, she said.
"You know who ends up paying for that, all of us all over again (through higher consumer prices)," she said. "I just wouldn't have been able to sleep at night."
-- Reach reporter Paul Overeiner at 768-4917 or povereiner@citpat.com.
The whole neighborhood will lose when too many houses get boarded up, to get out the other homeowners have to take a loss but they're smart if they start getting out before it's too late. We have neighborhoods here that have a lot of boarded up homes now but it's hard to get people to want to move into them. Some are perfectly good homes.
Housing under $100k however was moving quite well.
Homes for $20,000 OR LESS?...$20,000 won't even remodel a kitchen.
So why has arson, vandalizm and illegal activities become the norm in the US. I will say that illegal aliens are not the cause as this has been the norm for vacant houses for decades.
Sounds more like Afghanistan.
Ted still lives south of town but the store closed, last year I think. He writes some good articles for the Cit Pat quite frequently.
But I have a job.
I ended up taking a wrong turn on Francis St once. "This sure don't like the place"
http://www.mooersrealty.com/home.asp
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