Foreclosures Jump 79 Percent In 2007

More Expected In Coming Months; Nevada, California, Michigan, Ohio And Florida Top List

(CBS/AP)  The number of U.S. homes that slipped into some stage of foreclosure in 2007 was 79 percent higher than in the previous year, a real estate tracking company said Tuesday. Many homeowners started to fall behind on mortgage payments in the last three months, setting the stage for more foreclosures this year.

Ohio was among the top ten states for foreclosure filings during 2007.

About 1.3 million homes nationwide received foreclosure-related warnings last year, up from 717,522 in 2006, Irvine-based RealtyTrac Inc. said. Foreclosure filings rose 75 percent from the previous year to 2.2 million.

More than 1 percent of all U.S. households were in some phase of the foreclosure process last year, up from about half a percent in 2006, RealtyTrac said.

Nevada, Florida, Michigan, California and Colorado posted the highest foreclosure rates, the company said.

Ohio ranked sixth, with 1.8 percent of the state's households entering some stage of foreclosure last year. Ohio had 153,196 foreclosure filings on 89,979 properties, up 88 percent from 2006, the report said.

The filings included notices warning owners that they were in default, or that their home was slated for auction or for repossession by a bank. Some properties may have received more than one notice if the owners had multiple mortgages.

The toppling housing market has given way to a spike in mortgage fraud cases. CBS News has learned that the FBI has 1,210 open cases, a 50 percent rise from the fiscal year 2006.

The FBI is also seeing a trend in an increase of foreclosure scams. While they have no hard numbers of cases right now, they are seeing evidence of scams including: Phantom help (people promising to help get people out of foreclosure for a fee); Bait and switch (promises of refinancing to get out of foreclosure results in the victim turning their homes over to the scammers); and bail out scams (where the scammers quickly get the deeds from people through false promises of help), reports CBS News.

A late-year surge in the number of U.S. properties reporting foreclosure filings suggests that many are in the initial stages of the foreclosure process and could end up lost to foreclosure this year unless lenders or the government steps in, RealtyTrac said.

"It does appear that we're seeing a new batch of properties enter the process," said Rick Sharga, RealtyTrac's vice president of marketing.

RealtyTrac is forecasting that the pace of foreclosure filings will remain steady, rather than accelerate during the first half of 2008.

"Assuming nothing else bad happens economically ... we will have exhausted the bulk of the worst-performing loans by the end of June," Sharga said, referring to adjustable-rate mortgage loans made to borrowers with poor credit.

Many of these subprime loans defaulted last year, triggering a credit crisis and saddling major financial institutions with losses.

More than 1.8 million subprime mortgages are scheduled to reset to higher interest rates this year and next.

Last year's explosion in foreclosure activity came amid a worsening housing downturn, as falling home values ate into homeowners' equity, making it harder for many to refinance into more affordable loans or to find buyers. Those options had helped keep troubled homeowners from sliding into foreclosure.

"We went from a sort of buying frenzy to a foreclosure frenzy in the last two years," Sharga said.

Recent efforts by government and mortgage lenders to help homeowners at risk of falling seriously behind on mortgage payments have had a marginal impact on the U.S. foreclosure rate so far, Sharga added.

In December alone, foreclosure filings soared 97 percent from the same month a year earlier to 215,749. It was the fifth consecutive month in which foreclosure filings topped more than 200,000, RealtyTrac said.

In the fourth quarter, filings rose 86 percent from the prior-year quarter but only 1 percent from the third quarter.

Nevada had the highest foreclosure rate in the nation last year, with 3.4 percent of its households receiving foreclosure filings. That was more than three times the national average, RealtyTrac said.

The state had 66,316 filings on 34,417 properties in 2007, up more than 200 percent from 2006's total.

Florida had more than 2 percent of its properties in some stage of foreclosure last year. The state reported 279,325 filings on 165,291 homes, more than twice the previous year's total.

In Michigan, where job losses are pressuring many homeowners, 1.9 percent of all households received a foreclosure filing last year. In all, 136,205 filings were issued on 87,210 properties, up 68 percent versus filings in 2006.

California led the nation in total foreclosure filings and the number of homes in some stage of foreclosure last year.

A total of 481,392 filings were issued on 249,513 properties, more than triple the number of filings in 2006, RealtyTrac said.

In all, 1.9 percent of households in California received foreclosure filings.

In Stockton, there have been more foreclosures than any other city in the country, reports CBS News affiliate KPIX-TV in San Francisco.

Police are investigating a rash of car fires and whether people setting the blazes themselves as a way to make some fast cash off their insurance policies.

Many of the homes receiving foreclosure filings in the state were in the inland markets, where new construction and more affordable prices helped fuel a spike in sales toward the end of the housing boom.

Other states in the 2007 foreclosure top 10 were Georgia, Arizona, Illinois and Indiana.

[omega39-2009]

MS. MORNIN: That''s good, because I work three jobs and I feel like I contribute.

THE PRESIDENT: You work three jobs?

MS. MORNIN: Three jobs, yes.

THE PRESIDENT: Uniquely American, isn''t it? I mean, that is fantastic that you''re doing that. (Applause.) Get any sleep? (Laughter.)

[missingamerica]

"Assuming nothing else bad happens economically ... "

Now there''s a quote and a half...maybe he meant "Assuming things get a little better...".

Some people''s credit cards aren''t maxed out yet, and the mortgage companies are so very thoughtful as to accept payment with credit cards.

Wonder what the number of late electricity, natural gas, fuel oil and so on winter-energy bills are?

[missingamerica]

That quote, omega, is "What it means to be Bush" in a nutshell.

The man has always had somebody to bail him out - his mind cannot even begin to comprehend what is wrong with having to work three jobs to survive.

[noloyalisti]

How is that conservative privatization ideology treating you now?

[clestes-2009]

Oh no, don''t worry your heads about the state of the economy. We aren''t in a recession, nor are we even headed that way!!

Why this is just a little dip in the market! Bernake drop the interest rate .75 last week and will another .5 this week!! That will totally fix EVERYTHING!! The dollar will plunge, the housing market will continue to sink, there will job losses all over the place.

So just keep listening to the good news! The economy is really strong!!

So says shrub last night, the jerk. Try telling that to all the people who have lost their houses.

[searingtruth]

"Foreclosures Jump 79 Percent In 2007"


And yet we continue to do exactly as we have been doing.

In fact, we plan on doing it more.

We could simply mandate that the American people be paid a living wage, insist on fair trade instead of free trade, demand that corporations who do business in America use a fair portion of American labor and are fairly taxed, and that they adhere to common standards of human decency and human rights.

We could begin a ten year economic disengagement plan from China and our other enemies, buy our nation back from them, and reclaim millions of lost jobs.

But instead we''re traveling even further into record debt territory, and selling more of what little we own of our nation to the Chinese and other enemies.

And neither party is even attempting to stop it. And neither Clinton or Obama, with all their "hope" and "vision", who have the power of United States Senators right now, are forwarding or insisting on any realistic or just solutions.

But John Edwards would.
ST


"People will believe in almost anything, except for reality."
SearingTruth

A Future of the Brave - www.searingtruth.com

[Krazcarl]

Is there ANYONE out there that can defend Bush at this point Anyone that lame?????

[fstop100]

The man (Bush) has done wonders for working class Americans. The American dream has been stolen by this administration

[easeup-2009]

So Bush himself FORCED people to buy houses they couldn''t afford and he FORCED them to sign ARM''s without even reading the part about rates possibly going up in 5 years, then Bush FORCED lenders to give loans to people with shaky credit and to mislead morons into signing ARM''s and interest-only loans??????

Man that Bush is pure EVIL!!!!

[piercetheval]

...The Buck stops here...$0.00. {:{o)

[piercetheval]

"Honey, I shrunk the Dollar!."

[easeup-2009]

pierce *** are you ranting about?

[piercetheval]

easeup...afternoon Bunkie!

[searingtruth]

"So Bush himself FORCED people to buy houses they couldn''''t afford and he FORCED them to sign ARM''''s without even reading the part about rates possibly going up in 5 years, then Bush FORCED lenders to give loans to people with shaky credit and to mislead morons into signing ARM''''s and interest-only loans??????

Man that Bush is pure EVIL!!!!"
easeup


Yes, he created the conditions for it, and then, with full foreknowledge, allowed it to happen.

This is Bush and his accomplices consummate right wing philosophy at its pinnacle, utter inhumanity and unrestrained greed let loose.

And the suffering, turmoil, poverty, and despair we see all around us has always been the result.

It''s not like lawless inhumanity hasn''t been tried before you know.

Yes indeed, Bush is pure evil.
ST


"The indefinite detention of extra judicially abducted American and foreign citizens in secret prisons without charge or representation where they are subject to institutionalized torture and murder is not only illegal, it is abhorrent, disgusting, and disgraceful to the nature and soul of any American."
SearingTruth


"When everything is secret, everything is legal."
SearingTruth

A Future of the Brave - www.searingtruth.com

[easeup-2009]

ST He created the conditions for it HOW? The Fed lowered interest rates to get us out of a recession and lenders & borrowers tried to turn an easy buck. Unless Bush legislated ARM''s and interest-only loans I don''t see how it is his fault. Note that many of the foreclosures are with people owning multiple homes--i.e. flippers trying to turn & burn houses. To me, those people got what they deserved.

As for the people who bought a $400,000 house when they really could only afford a $200,000 house and used an adjustable rate mortgage without taking into account the consequences of the rates going up they have NO ONE to blame but themselves. They gambled and LOST.

[shanev137]

It''s amazing how many Bush lovers don''t know which agencies and departments roll up under the executive branch of the government.

Try the Department of the Treasury
Try the Department of Commerce
Try the Department of Labor
Try the Department of Energy
Try the Department of Defense
Try the Food and Drug Administration



All you Bush lovers like to try and act like the president is in charge of nothing.

[piercetheval]

The problem is is that the GNP is Debt! That''s about all this country can produce anymore. You''ve let the corporations outsource all jobs that produce anything tangible. Hardly any one knows how to farm anymore, there is no game [to speak of ] to hunt and the only gathering I see is out of dumpsters. We''ve gone from Ameri-can can to American''t remember!

[piercetheval]

...We''ve gone from rockets red glare to brother can you spare...

[easeup-2009]

pierce & shane

You are off-topic. Explain to me why Bush is directly responsible for the foreclosure rate. I''ve made my case that irresponsible lenders & morons buying too much house and not reading mortgage agreements are at fault.

[searingtruth]

"ST He created the conditions for it HOW? ..."
easeup


By removing regulations from corporations and businesses that forbid unethical action. By failing to insist that Americans be paid a living wage. By failing to insist on fair trade instead of free trade. By failing to demand that corporations who do business in America use a fair portion of American labor and are fairly taxed, and that they adhere to common standards of human decency and human rights.

And by failing to implement a ten year economic disengagement plan from China and our other enemies, and failing to buy our nation back from them, which would have reclaimed millions of lost American jobs.

And by abandoning our Constitution and the rule of law it embraces, and committing uncounted atrocities in our name.
ST


"If only we could once again stand as a nation and unequivocally proclaim that torture and murder is wrong."
SearingTruth

A Future of the Brave - www.searingtruth.com

[denn034]

Homes in Utah are going for a whopping $299,900 and if the rest of the country is like that, then, small wonder foreclosures are up. This is the legacy of the sub-prime loan mess as well. Home prices have to fall. There''s no real choice.

[piercetheval]

easeup...the topic is the economy...it''s tanking due to division and derision among the ranks of the common man. We, the less than "Have" and the "Have Mores" need to find solidarity in resolve to this situation.

[whatithink-2009]

easeup,

The government/fed = the coca and poppy farmers
The lenders = the drug dealers
The mortgage buyers = the drug users

The government and the fed created the environment for this to happen. They saw it happening. They had the power to stop it before it became the mess it is today.

[easeup-2009]

ST--Anything but the same irrelevant cut/pastes? Anything? Hello?

[omega39-2009]

Man that Bush is pure EVIL!!!!

Posted by easeup

LOL!! too funny....for the last seven years we have been hearing from the right about Clinton''s recession and Clinton''s "bubble". Now, all of a sudden, the president is powerless.

[easeup-2009]

whatithink

I don''t remember anyone complaining when it was at record levels. I just can''t get past people who think the government has the responsibility to protect people from themselves. Should the government enact legislation that forces people to only buy homes they can afford? Where does it stop?

[searingtruth]

"ST--Anything but the same irrelevant cut/pastes? Anything? Hello?"
easeup


Nope.

Just the same old American stuff.

Like always.

You know us pesky Americans. Always going on and on about justice, and freedom, and humanity, and truth, and the Constitution, and all that other anti-fascist stuff.

Ain''t we awful?
ST


"Accusation was conviction, and justice an abominable crime."
SearingTruth

"Justice is simple. Beware of those who declare it is not."
SearingTruth

A Future of the Brave - www.searingtruth.com

[whatithink-2009]

omega39,

Didn''t you get the memo...bashing a sitting president is unpatriotic as of 2001!

[easeup-2009]

pierce

The topic here is greed & stupidity. I remember all the people flipping houses, building spec homes, driving the market up--where does the government step in & regulate?

[whatithink-2009]

easeup,

There were many of us complaining when it was a record levels. If the government has no responsibility to protect us from ourselves then they should just legalize all forms of drugs, stop all these silly traffic laws and things like that. You can even say the latter is not only protecting us from ourself but also protecting us from hurting others...well foreclosures also not only hurts those who are being foreclosed but it hurts the entire community.

[omega39-2009]

Should the government enact legislation that forces people to only buy homes they can afford? Where does it stop?

Posted by easeup

Should we allow the lenders to do no document loans? Should we allow the banks in turn to bundle those questionable loans with prime ones and sell them to investors? There is plenty of blame to go around. Bush gets his because he has a looooong history of appointing people to head regulatory agencies that have previously lobbied against those very agencies.

[omega39-2009]

omega39,

Didn''''t you get the memo...bashing a sitting president is unpatriotic as of 2001!

Posted by whatithink

Whatithink, was that the one printed over the signature line on the last $300 tax rebate check?

[whatithink-2009]

omega39,

Exactly!

[searingtruth]

If there''s anything amusing about America''s ongoing economic collapse it''s the neocons utter denial of it, or transfer of blame to someone else.

And yet if the President were a Democrat their eyes would suddenly open, and suddenly the Presidents economic policies would indeed be responsible for our economic condition.

And his inhumane policies would indeed be responsible for our inhumanity.
ST


"I writhed in anguish for years. Always knowing pain was coming, but never knowing what I should attempt to say next, or how I should appear so that my American torturers would believe me.

The problem was that I was innocent."
SearingTruth


"Law without justice is simply tyranny."
SearingTruth

A Future of the Brave - www.searingtruth.com

[piercetheval]

As I''ve posted repeatedly: Usury is a sin. Only when an economic system based upon true spiritual values is established and adhered to will this despair end. Stop using credit, pay cash or do without. It couldn''t be any simpler than that.

[cgswires]

I have read these posts and I have to say, what happened to saving money? I just bought my first home and I spent the past year saving for the down payment, and putting 3 months of mortgage payments aside for a rainy day. My partner and I skipped going to the movies and buying new electronics(house or HDTV, hmmm which one wins). I learned to save by watching my parents. It is not the government''s fault or the banks fault, it is the consumer''s fault for not being responsible with their money. People are losing the home they purchased, but it isn''t their home until the mortgage is paid off any way. On the bright side, the rental market should be picking up.

[Krazcarl]

There is an answer IMPEACH make leave office in total shame. He''s either a idiot or evil or both and brought the greatest country in the world to it''s knees. But lame congressmen and women think they might want to be president someday and do nothing. No he didn''t{as far as I know} mess with any ladies while in office he just screwed the american people. I say again congress get of your sorry *sses and IMPEACH you have the grounds.

[easeup-2009]

omega & whatithink

Good points. As a privately-held company, shouldn''t a lender be able to decide who is credit-worthy & who isn''t--aren''t they the ones being exposed?

I just advocate a little personal responsibility. If I signed an ARM for a house I normally couldn''t afford & 5 years later my payment went up I wouldn''t blame anyone but myself.

[easeup-2009]

CGS

Thank you for some common sense.

[antoniof123]

Let''s make a bet when a Democrat is elected President and that is this year because the neo cons have pretty much done that to the Republican party.

That the religious right wing nut neo cons start screaming that we need to get out of Iraq, fix the housing problems, worry about education, healh care and so on and so on.

I can hear it now s/he will not get us out of Iraq what is wrong with s/he. S/he needs to fix the economy, health care.

Now for the real clicher here it comes:

If we were in charge we would have done a better job and fixed it. All along know they caused the problem.

Good luck you right wing facist religious neo con nuts.

[easeup-2009]

antonio

Nice irrelevant temper tantrum--I''m sure your mom is proud.

[searingtruth]

"I have read these posts and I have to say, what happened to saving money? I just bought my first home and I spent the past year saving for the down payment, and putting 3 months of mortgage payments aside for a rainy day ..."
cgswires


Oh oh.

Only three months for a rainy day?

But there''s a storm.

It started last year, and continues to gain strength this year.

Our economy is suffering from a critical imbalance, and that imbalance is not being addressed by anyone.

Until our people are paid a fair wage, and corporations and businesses are fairly taxed and forced to adhere to humane principals, including maintaining a fair share of their labor force in America, that imbalance will continue.

And we will never be secure, nationally or economically, until we buy our country back from China and our other enemies.

Only the wealthiest and most amoral of us, who hold no allegiance to any species or country, prosper in an economy ruled by utter inhumanity and unrestrained greed.

And as far as real estate goes, those who only have three months mortgage payments saved simply contribute to their wealth when their homes are lost.
ST


"A brutal hand is despised by all it touches."
SearingTruth

A Future of the Brave - www.searingtruth.com

[shanev137]

Hey easeup if your daddy Bush is not responsible....then why is he bailing everyone out?

[easeup-2009]

My "daddy???" Geez you people are myopic. The stimulus is to help the overall economy, not just for people foreclosing.

You should google, "Bush Derangement Syndrome" & then seek the appropriate help.

[searingtruth]

I have to get some work done now fellow citizens. I sincerely hope that no one here loses their home, but with a 79% increase in foreclosures last year, and more and more American jobs being exported out of our country even as our economy sputters to a halt, the chances for home owners look grim.

The best immediate advice I can offer is to try and save at least a years mortgage payments as quickly as possible.

And of course, to impeach Bush and all his accomplices from all parties for treason against our great nation, including selling critical infrastructure to our enemies, and crimes against humanity.

And if you really want change, and an American government who serves the people instead of corporations, please vote for John Edwards.
ST


"We need not debate the existence of our three branches of government, only the punishment for those who would destroy them."
SearingTruth

A Future of the Brave - www.searingtruth.com

[easeup-2009]

"I have to get some work done now fellow citizens."

Posted by SearingTruth"

Don''t forget to ask if they want to supersize.

[hillaryin08]

About 1.3 million homes nationwide received foreclosure-related warnings last year, up from 717,522 in 2006, Irvine-based RealtyTrac Inc. said. Foreclosure filings rose 75 percent from the previous year to 2.2 million.

mmm...out of 45 million mortages thats less than 5%. Not bad, The news makes it sound like 70% of all mortages are in Foreclosure. Were can I buy one of these, I heard their are some pretty good deals out their. Whats better with less red tape, Shariff Sale or Foreclosure? Are they usally Auction?

[jetlizhan]

holy cow - 79%!! i knew it increased, but had no idea that much. that''s so sad for so many (former) homeowners. i got a fixed rate of 5.875% and i''m not touching it!

[hillaryin08]

The best immediate advice I can offer is to try and save at least a years mortgage payments as quickly as possible.

And of course, to impeach Bush and all his accomplices from all parties for treason against our great nation, including selling critical infrastructure to our enemies, and crimes against humanity.

And if you really want change, and an American government who serves the people instead of corporations, please vote for John Edwards.
ST


"We need not debate the existence of our three branches of government, only the punishment for those who would destroy them."
SearingTruth

A Future of the Brave - www.searingtruth.com



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by SearingTruth at 04:15 PM : Jan 29, 2008

There will be no Impeachments, Hangings, Beheadings or any of that. What planet are you on? Besides, the Democrats are handing the GOP a Presidency in November as we speek.

On another note, instead of your gloom and doom, buy one of these homes in default at the low price and sell when the economy rebounds like it always does. The investment looks better than the stock market. Good returns. But of course its Capitalism and you may have to hide that from your circle of friends.

[racam_us]

How can this be happening? George Bush swore to the American people that the economy was sound. Oh, I see, he was just telling another lie. That explains it.