Foreclosures Still On The Rise In Sauk County - Part II: Foreclosures Still Piling Up

March 4th, 2008

A report by RealtyTrac ranks Wisconsin in the 29^th position for having the highest foreclosure rate in the country. Even if the high rate of filings can be attributed to zealous data collection, Katherine Schauf, Administrative Coordinator for Sauk County, feels that there are some increases but she aslo says that she needs to take a closer look at the SCEDC report before making any further conclusions.

The Sauk County in Wisconsin state reports 25 foreclosure filings ending up in sales this year as per the Sheriff’s Department data records. When compared to the same period in 2007, there were only 16 such sales.

Records also show that already 54 foreclosure filings have been registered in the County’s Circuit Court so far this year as compared to 25 filings in the first two months last year and 23 filings in 2006. The first two months of 2008 have already seen more than twice the number of foreclosures than 2007.

Merlin Zitzner, President for the SCEDC Board says that one cannot deny the numbers which have been recorded. Zitzner also remarked that many of the foreclosures filing initiations are by those out of county lenders from institutions indulging in lax lending practices.

Merlin Zitzner, also the CEO of Baraboo National Bank claimed that most Sauk County lenders have been more responsible than the others across the nation. Baraboo National Bank on its part has filed 4 cases of foreclosure out of 205 filings made in 2007 and four filings out of 177 filings made in 2006.

Zitzner also added that many out of county lenders have offered loans at sub prime rates. These loans are available to people who are not able to avail regular loans due to poor track record and credit rating.

He also stated that many lenders approach their customers via email or television or through newspaper advertisements. People are being lured by these low interest rate loans, where there is no requirement for any minimum downpayment to be made. Automatically people would want to avail such benefits and not reading the fine print mentioned on such loan papers, most of these borrowers end up in trouble when the interest rates shoot up and they are not able to make their payments in time.

Only time will tell if this tide of foreclosures can be stemmed, and action taken to stop the increase of foreclosures before it causes the dreaded recession that many people are afraid of.