Florida ranks second in its number of foreclosed homes, the first position being held by California. The foreclosures in these two states are so acute because the homeowners in a bid to buy and sell homes fast, over-inflated their property five years back. They inflated the values of their property through rapid sales with the hope that the value of their real estate property is going to increase in the future. Among the Sun Coast cities, Bradenton was arrested with 372 foreclosures in May, which is also the highest. This was followed by Port Charlotte with 348 foreclosures and North Port with 328 foreclosures.

According to Arthur Broslat, a real estate land and investment property specialist said,

“In North Port, for example, there was a lot of speculative activity, people buying and holding homes with no intention of living in them. They were going to flip them and become immensely wealthy.”

The problem of foreclosed homes has not only hit the people of Florida and California but also about three-quarters of a billion real estate properties in US in the second quarter. Under this condition, many companies started promoting that they will construct a house with a little or no down payment. About 500 houses were built in North Port. About 300 homes were abandoned unfinished in North Port.

Nationwide, 48 out of 50 states and 95 out of the 100 biggest metro areas have come across a year-over-year hike in foreclosures in the second half of the year. The hardest hit metro area was the Cape Coral-Fort Myers with one foreclosure filing per 64 households, seven times the national average. The increasing rate of foreclosures has been bringing down the values of home. This has left many jobless. The bank repossessions in Florida went to nearly eightfold in the month of July. The number of foreclosure filing in the Sunshine State has gone up by 14 percent and 139 percent respectively from June and July last year.

In the second half, the median price for a US based family home has come down to 7.6 percent. Colorado that ranked first in 2006 in its foreclosure rate has played a vital role in helping the distressed homeowners. It has given ample time to the homeowners to prevent foreclosures. It ranks fifth today with a 15 percent decrease in its foreclosure activity, which is quite a good sign for this state of US.

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Popularity: 4% [?]

Swimming pools left unattended when homeowners vacate a property due to foreclosure are posing health hazards for the neighborhood. Many pools are becoming breeding grounds for mosquitoes as the water stagnates and collects algae. Crows and other birds are also drawn to the pools which then become their watering holes. It is not uncommon to even find dead birds floating in rotting water.

This situation increases the risk of disease originating from these abandoned pools. One such disease which residents fear is the West Nile disease. The virus is carried and spread by both mosquitoes and birds.

Help is at hand however from the Department of Environmental Health. The department’s vector control technicians are assigned the responsibility of cleaning up stagnant pools left in foreclosed homes. Technicians first visit the home to investigate a complaint made by the residents of the neighborhood. They then take action based on their findings.

John Ballard, a technician of the Santa Clara County, points out that when homeowners face foreclosure the all encompassing thought in their minds is where they will live next. Draining the pool so that it does not stagnate is likely to be way down in their list of priorities. Furthermore, even if they do drain the pool before leaving there is every chance that rain water will collect and fill it up again.

Scott Barron, Santa Clara’s code enforcement officer, says that the deep end of a dry pool can pose a safety hazard for children wandering around in the empty property. Thus, officials are unsure whether an empty pool or a green and dirty one is more hazardous. Keeping the pool filled but clean perhaps is the best option.

Dirty pools are no the prerogative of foreclosed properties alone. Cases of owners neglecting the pool because they do not use the home much or forgetting about it because it needs repairs also happen.

Foreclosures however increase the workload of technicians assigned to clean up the pools. They also pose more difficulties because the bank which has repossessed the property may have cut off water and electricity to minimise losses and this makes it difficult to drain out the pool.

In order to clean the pools they are first sprayed with a chemical solution that helps suffocate the mosquito larvae. Then gambush fish are introduced into the water. These fish eat up the remaining larvae as well as gnats, algae and other vegetation.

Officials like Ballard and Scott prefer working through real estate agents as they too have a stake in keeping the property clean. After all, a clean property is easier to sell.

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Popularity: 8% [?]

A congressional report states that a total of $100 billion is forecast to be lost by families and neighborhoods all along the US on real estates and property values while the state administration will lose out on about $917 million on property tax revenue incurred by the year 2009.

The Joint Economic Committee states that around 2 million homes withstanding subprime mortgages shall incur foreclosure by next year end. Senator Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), head of the committee, has sketched up proposals to neutralize the problem which he has been trying to let the administration acknowledge for weeks.

According to the report, Long Islanders will be the most affected, as the state of New York stands to lose $9.4 billion in property values and an additional amount of $ 102 million shall be depleted through property tax revenue decline over foreclosures.

As Schumer puts it, the Long Island neighborhood shall be infected by the damage caused by the pulsating boost in the foreclosures, extending far beyond simple homeowners and borrowers. He maintains that the Nassau and Suffolk area has to be protected and further damage to these neighborhoods has to be restrained as they pay some of the highest property taxes in the state. He talked about his plan to regulate the spiraling industry to control the damage.

A loss of $71 billion nationwide and about $5.1 billion in the state of New York is to be incurred by ones facing foreclosure. A decline of $32 billion and that of $4.3 billion in the neighborhood housing and property values is to be incurred nationwide and in the New York state respectively as well.

Among the measures that Schumer advocates to neutralize the vandalism of foreclosures are encouragement such as encouraging foreclosure-prevention guidance; protecting borrowers from the foreclosure element by advising change to the bankruptcy code as well as coaxing the lenders to refinance the elements who are struggling to repay to prevent mammoth numbers of foreclosures.

Jay Brinkmann, Mortgage Bankers Association’s financial economist however differs on his view of the report. He states that the amount of decline stated in the home values is not 20 percent and the number of homeowners facing foreclosure will be around 1 million to 1.2 million, instead of the 2 million suggested by the report. He also states that the decline of property values will be restricted to and around areas with a surplus number of subprime loans.

A cluster of foreclosures in a respective area will definitely reduce property taxes and home values, admits Brinkmann. “But it will not be as high as they have assumed”, he quips.

But the problem pertaining to the negative economic impact on the families and people losing their homes is an aspect that the report has overlooked, feels Pat McPherron, an economist in Moody’s economy.com. This, he suggests, will be the real big problem for the administration to manage and solve with efficiency over a limited period of time, along with the high number of foreclosures.

Popularity: 4% [?]

Agnes Mouser of Texas is a 65-year-old widow, who got a $10,000 tax due bill after foreclosure on her loan to settle credit-card debt.

First foreclosure, and then the series of monetary problems associated with it, are increasing day by day all over the country. For instance, the burden of tax comes as a complimentary package along with foreclosure. It is very likely for the owner of a foreclosed property to fall into a tax trap without realizing it. Only good negotiation skills or bankruptcy can save the owner from this tax trap.

The system works something like this. First, the unpaid tax amount keeps on multiplying on mortgage payments you default on. Secondly, if the owner opts for selling the house at a lesser value than the actual debt amount owed, and the lender excuses this difference, then the owner becomes liable to pay the outstanding tax on the difference amount that he or she owes.

The Internal Revenue Service’s (I.R.S) policy considers excused debt of all types as an income for the owner. This excused income falls under the tax bracket even if the owner has no tangible property or asset to show for it. Only in cases of bankruptcy does the I.R.S. cancel the debt. In such cases, the onus to prove their insolvency lies solely on the owner.

During the boom in the real estate market, some of the lenders and brokers deliberately encouraged people to take more loan amounts than they could afford. Therefore, if the lawyer of the house owner proves that the process of the loan agreement was faulty, then I.R.S does not treat the forgiven amount as an income. Many people have been able to reduce their tax burden in such cases.

The “Center for Responsible Lending” in Durham, N.C. projects about 21 percent failure in home loans extended during 2005 and 2006. All of these loans will probably turn out into foreclosure. These loans were nothing but sub-prime loans given to people with weak credit profile. The value of many of the houses on which loans were taken is generally lower than the owed amount since the down payments were very low.

The owners can also negotiate lower payments with the I.R.S. However, the outcome is not favorable for everyone since the I.R.S. ultimately decides the tax amount to be paid.

Actually, the truth is that the legalese of the tax paper is very difficult for a non-professional to understand. Therefore, it is always advisable to consult a tax advisor in this kind of situation, or it can end up causing some one a lot of grief.

Popularity: 10% [?]

Though the people residing at the Country Club of Spring Valley Lake are from various communities and part of different cultures, one thing that is common among them is the term “foreclosure”.

There are about 4210 families staying in the country-club community area, and the ratio of foreclosure is approximately 1 for every 41 households since the last seven months. Real estate agents are acquiring foreclosure properties from everywhere i.e. Victor Valley, Mountain resort communities and so on. The number is increasing irrespective of the value of the house.

The crisis in the sub-prime market is making lenders cautious about making any such deals again in the future. Now lenders are finding very difficult to trust anyone with such heavy debt amounts. Besides, it can cause great psychological trauma to the house owners. Those who cannot afford to pay the money vacate the house, and this leads to a deep pervading sense of loss and helplessness. It has a great devastating effect on the neighborhood as well. People don’t like to leave in an ambience which is surrounded by empty houses with a big “resale” sign in front of them. Plus the effect on the cleanliness of the area is an added pressure. Real estate agents are paying Homeowner’s Association (HOA) in Spring Valley Lake to keep the surroundings of the empty houses clean so that it does not have a negative effect on the property values.

The board of directors of the HOA has put the responsibility of cleaning the neighborhood either on the banks or on the real estate agents. And therefore, they are paying for the staff’s wages to the HOA. The amount budgeted for this by HOA is around $15,100. This also includes fees paid to court for allowing them to enter the premises of these homes. $40100 is budgeted for any losses incurred due to unpaid wages. These efforts have been taken up by the HOA to demonstrate to the residing people their concerns about the impact on property values.

There are many cases in the Spring Valley where the owners have bought the house thinking that they can pay the mortgage from their annual income, but unfortunately, the reality turns out to be something else and their properties are foreclosed.

Property agents believe that the situation in the market will continue like this for two to three years more in the Spring valley Lake area. The piled up stock of real estate inventory has become so high that property dealers will take almost three years to square it off. This is possible only if they do not include any more foreclosed homes in the list, which continues to grow with each passing month.

Popularity: 13% [?]

Apart from sub-prime lenders who trouble homeowners by filing foreclosure suits against them, frauds or con actors are also giving homeowners hard times.

The cases of people fooled by con actors are more common in Arizona. As mentioned in the report of Better Business Bureaus released recently, there are about 1.69 million homeowners in Arizona who are on the verge of losing their dream homes in the next two years. Disheartened by this fact, home owners trust anyone who shows them some light of hope. Con actors give them assurance that they will save their property by re-negotiating the terms with the lender.

Various corrupt companies who call themselves “Mortgage Foreclosure Rescue Companies” just look for a possibility to cheat anxious people just to fill their own pockets. They approach the owners via telephones, emails, mail, or even personally, claiming that they will re-work the entire loan scheme and protect their house from foreclosure. They also take money from dejected owners promising to refund it back later. Eventually, these companies disappear with the money by doing very little or nothing at all to help the poor homeowners. Desperate house owners have even paid these con artists as much as $14,000 in some cases.

The Better Business Bureaus in Arizona have received numerous complaints about such foreclosure rescue companies from people who have been conned by them. In the past three years, there have been 112 such cases filed. Out of these, 35 cases have taken place in the last eleven months alone.

To give this matter a more serious approach, The Better Business Bureaus, with an intention to help distressed homeowners give a few suggestions:

· Be cautious of any person approaching your door with a handwritten note of help or something similar in your mailbox.

· Even if you feel like taking their help, first talk to your lender or the mortgage firm regarding re-organization of your loan scheme or any options of refinancing.

· In case you are signing any documents, then always take help from your family, your lawyer or your financial agent to access the paperwork. Never give away the ownership of the property under pressure or anxiety.

· People can locate and approach their nearest Better Business Bureau by logging on to their site http://www.arizonabbb.org/. This site provides information about the reliability of foreclosure rescue companies. People can even call them at 60226-41721. They can also confirm with the Attorney general at http://www.azag.gov/.

Popularity: 9% [?]

Real estate has its fan following in the political segment too. Currently there was much hype about the links of Democrat John Edward, Presidential contender with links with foreclosure-filing firms. He is a topic of discussion among foreclosure critics. His associations with the sub-prime lending arms of Fortress Investment Group have provoked critics to raise their agony against him.

In May, the Federal Election Commission released their report notifying Mr. Edwards’s vocation in Fortress. Mr. Edward joined Fortress in the second half of 2005 as an employee. At that time, the firm’s own unit “Green Tree Servicing LLC” had already filed a foreclosure suit against Katrina victims. During his course of service in the firm, Fortress got hold of Nationstar Mortgage LLC. In 2006, he left the firm after receiving his due remuneration. While departing, he invested one-half of his earned amount in Fortress funds. Now, Fortress counts Mr. Edward among the top class of their political contributors. They have also deposited huge amount of money into his political campaign.

Well, this is not the first time when Mr. Edward is engaged in this discussion for his links with foreclosure filing companies .Before this, soon after Katrina hit in May, Green Tree’s letter reached an old lady asking her to either pay the mortgage amount, or else see her house getting foreclosed. This letter was sent when most of the mortgage firms in the business where opting for an alternative of a house payment holiday for the sufferers of the storm.

Mr. Edward, unhappy with what was happening, for obvious reasons, said that he was unaware about the foreclosure suits filed by Green Tree. He said he was talking to the people at Fortress, and that the matter would get sorted out soon. He also added that he had no idea about the links of Fortress with sub-prime mortgage units. He joined the private equity firm with an intention of learning finance. His profile was to supply information about the economic behavior of the U.S. and the foreign nations. He said that the diverse nature of the firm made it very difficult for him to understand their operations.

Apart from Mr. Edward, Republican Mitt Romney is also in the list of people having their links with sub-prime mortgage companies. Mitt Romney’s association with Bain Capital, a private equity firm, is also a hot topic nowadays. Bain Capital has filed many foreclosure suits and thereof forced people to leave their houses.

Popularity: 5% [?]

The storm of foreclosure is flooding the entire country. Still, there are some places where the rate of foreclosures has declined even though the countrywide rate is increasing. A fresh report by RealtyTrac names some areas where the rate of foreclosures has fallen compared to that in the last year.

As per the yearly average statement of RealtyTrac, foreclosures rates have declined by two digits in more than a dozen areas in almost ninety prime locations. This is because there are some markets which were not touched by the calamity of foreclosures. Locations like Greenville, Little Rock, McAllen, Charleston have had a very low number of default notices, bank buys and auctions in the first half of this year as compared to that of last year.

In Salt Lake City the foreclosures rate were down by 40 percent, and 37 percent in Albuquerque compared to the figures from 2006. Sadly, the general trend of increase in foreclosure rates remains the same in other parts of the country.

11 out of the top 21 foreclosures filings are from Ohio and California cities.

In Stockton, the number has gone up by 257 percent compared to those in the last year during the same period. There were 8170 foreclosures filings on 4,240 properties. This is three times higher than the first six months of 2006.

Foreclosures filings include all the foreclosures notices i.e. default notices, bank repossessions, and auction notices which are filed during a given phase of time. If at least one foreclosure notice has been filed against a property, they are then termed as “properties with filings”.

Among the country’s largest metro areas, Motown has the second highest foreclosures rate. The ratio is one foreclosure filing for every 29 to 30 houses. Wayne County, in Detroit had 28704 foreclosure filings on 20232 properties, which are around 27 percent more than last year. This is almost twice the figure.

The third highest foreclosures rate is Sin City among the top metro areas. Here the ratio is one foreclosure filing for every 30 houses. In Clark County, Las Vegas there were 22927 foreclosure filings on 13026 properties. This number is double the figure from last year during the same period, and is around 71 percent more than last year.

Cities like Miami, FL; Sacramento, CA; Riverside-San Bernardino, Bakersfield, Memphis, TN and Cleveland, OH, Chicago, Los Angeles are also in the top ten listing of foreclosures filings.

Popularity: 9% [?]

Florida - once the hot spot of housing sector is now under the storm of foreclosures. Signs of resale can be noticed on most of the houses of Cape Coral, a beautiful place on the gulf coast of Florida. The once flourishing real estate market of Cape Coral now appears to be at its closing stages.

People have to leave their three bedroom and two bathroom luxurious apartments for a condensed asking price. The asking price of these houses is priced to match the amount owed by the homeowner. Sub-prime loans and the current credit crisis are among the few but major reasons for the current condition of the people of Cape Carol.

Increase in property taxes and also the augmenting rate of insurance, after the hurricane in 2005; have affected the lifestyle of the people here. This is also a reason why people are leaving Florida, to secure themselves from losing all their money. People leaving their houses also added to the piled stock of empty houses apart from foreclosure mortgages.

For the natives of Florida, the great depression has already come. More than 41 percent of single family owners, at a single point of time, have listed their housing at prices lower than $249,000 – the median market value, while just 17 families have priced their houses above the market value.

Builders are gradually removing their housing stock at discounted rates. But investors who are buying them will come to know the actual price of the deal only while maintaining the property. The real estate market in Cape Coral town has dried up. So builders want to shed off their liability of the piled stocks as early as possible.

Big houses are being sold off at the ground level prices. For them even a delay of one day could bring more losses. And for some, it is the transaction they were waiting for their entire life. Its like investors are getting prosperous on the ladder of someone else’s misfortune.

Builders who go by the short sell method are happier than those who don’t. This way, they at least get the bulk of their amount if not the entire amount. It also helps them in shedding off their inventory.

There are also people who buy houses from banks and lenders in Cape Carol and then sell it off at higher prices. For them, it has become a regular business. Builders ultimately find themselves a potential buyer. For the buyer it is like buying a dream home at much lower rates all thanks to the large number of foreclosures in the state.

Popularity: 10% [?]

A real picture of foreclosure mortgage can be seen in Stockton. There are at least five homes for sale from which about two to three houses have been reclaimed by the lender. Specifically, Clark Fork Circle’s northern side is the area where the mortgage tension is at its peak level.

Stockton was once considered as a favorite destination for real estate. But now, as per the estimates of RealtyTrac, it is rated as the place with the highest foreclosure rate compared to any city in the country. Earlier, having a house in Stockton was more easy and affordable than to have one in South Bay. However, the scenario has changed a lot in the last two years. Thousands of people are now facing mortgage issues.

People from other regions located themselves in Stockton searching for reasonable homes. As a result, the area became well populated, and expanded a lot. The location of Stockton was also another contributing factor. It is about 90 to 91 miles east of the silicon city i.e. San Francisco.

Even now, an average house for a family can be bought for $355,000. The main reason for increasing foreclosures in this area is sub-prime lending. Many current deals were supported by sub-prime loans. Lenders provided complete loans with minimal down payments to the homeowner, but the sudden increment in the interest rate later on affected many of these deals.

Many nonprofit organizations are currently working on this issue. They are asking lenders to freeze these foreclosures. They are also extending credit to low salaried families. Senior citizens and immigrants are affected most by the lenders actions.

Not only Stockton, but also other cities of California like Modesto and Merced are among the top cities for foreclosure filings. All of them were predominantly made up of agricultural land earlier. RealtyTrac findings rank California at number three in foreclosure mortgages. The other top places are occupied by Nevada and Colorado. DataQuick, another real estate tracking company, confirmed that the foreclosure crisis was hitting the state the worst in the last two decades. There have been 54,100 cases of delinquent loans in the state between May and August of this year.

Short sales, as the relief, are extended to homeowners by some of the brokers in Stockton. Short sales means the homeowner can pay back a bulk of the amount to the lender, if not the entire amount. But how many homeowners this will save is a big question since there are thousands of people affected by the foreclosure crisis countrywide.

Popularity: 12% [?]