The US Department of Housing and Urban Development is going to give away over $22.8 million fund to Columbus to help her deal with the foreclosure crisis. The department is going to send across funds to about 22 cities of Ohio apart from the counties that have been heavily affected by foreclosures. The fund has also been granted keeping in mind the distressing condition of those suffering from subprime loan crisis and mortgage delinquency in the real estate. This fund is a part of the $3.92 billion program that has been approved for various counties, cities, and states across the nation by the Congress. President Bush has given his approval to it.

Foreclosure has had a serious effect on the economy of Columbus. The price of homes has dropped down. People have lost their jobs. The price of energy and food has gone up. The homeowners are finding it difficult to make their mortgage repayments. The city of Columbus enjoys the 30th position nationally in its number of foreclosure filings from January to June, 2008. This city happens to be Ohio’s largest recipient of local government money from Neighborhood Stabilization Program. According to US Senator Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, Cuyahoga County and Cleveland are respectively going to get a fund of $11.2 million and $16.1 million. Other than these, Franklin County is supposed to receive a grant of $5.4 million from HUD.

Columbus will be able to use this fund for the redevelopment of properties facing foreclosure. The buyers can use the money to meet their closing costs or make down payments. This will hold true for those with low and moderate income. However, the housing administrator of Columbus, Rita Parise has said that it won’t come to any help to those facing a foreclosure on their property now. This money can be used to demolish the properties that are vacant, or can also be used to purchase and renovate properties.

Parise has further said, “It’s like Home Again on steroids,” She has said this referring to the program that aims at spending $25 million over the nest six years. The money of HUD will be coming to Columbus for the coming 4 years, beginning in the year of 2009. The problem of foreclosure is needed to be tackled immediately to save the city from further decline. The real estate of Columbus is also suffering seriously. Steps have to be taken to create a mass awareness as soon as possible.

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US Department of Housing and Urban Development has granted the communities of Cincinnati area a fund of over $25 million. This federal money has been granted to them so that they can fight with the problem of foreclosures in their area. Half of this fund can be used to rehab and buy properties that have been foreclosed. This fund will help the distressed homeowners facing the real estate problem to a great extent. The wave of foreclosure has put them into a terrible situation. The fund that will be handed over to the communities comes from the Neighborhood Stabilization Program of HUD. This program was created by the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008.

It has been said that the fund has to be used within a period of 18 months. Foreclosure has left many homeless. They really are at loss as to whom to go for help. Mark Mallory, who happens to be the Mayor of Cincinnati, has declared that an amount of $8,361,592 will be received by his city. Money will also be given to twelve more jurisdictions of Ohio. Butler County will be receiving an amount of $4.2 million. Hamilton County has been granted an amount equaling to $7.9 million. A total of $7.9 million and $2.1 million have been granted to Hamilton City and Middletown respectively.

Mallory has not said anything regarding when they are going to receive the money but is very sure of getting it soon. He has also said that the community development and planning departments of the city is going to decide upon how to make use of this money effectively in the real estate. He has expressed his deep excitement and has said, “We are very, very, very excited about what this means for this area. We’re certainly happy to see it.”

The fund from HUD will help a lot especially those with a low and moderate income for making their down payments. Besides, it will also help them in meeting their closing costs provided that the homebuyers get their mortgages from well known lenders and also get to attend sessions on housing counseling. The municipalities will also be able to make use of the fund for creating land banks other than collecting and managing the properties that are vacant for redevelopment purpose. Proper steps are required to be taken in the area so that people becomes more aware about the problem of home foreclosure.

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Apart from real estate, foreclosed homes are also creating a big problem for the students. A large number of students whose homes have been foreclosed are going to schools but are so poor that they are unable to afford free meals even. Jefferson County, which is a 98,000 student district, including Louisville and its suburbs, has been suffering from financial problems. As the state has made a reduction of $43 million on education, so the Jefferson County school officials have increased the lunch prices and stopped 17 bus services. The increasing rate of foreclosure has led to reduction in costs in schools across the nation.

A large number of teachers and other school officials in Miami-Dade County and Los Angeles have lost their job. The cost of fuel and food are increasing but the school revenues are same. This is having a heavily bad impact on schools. A large number of schools in Ohio and California have either stopped their bus service or have cut bus stops in a bid to save diesel. Schools in the districts of Minnesota and Louisiana have taken up a four-day school weeks. Two of the charities in the suburban Detroit have declared that they are going to give out student backpacks.

There was a tripling in the number of homeless students from 850 in 2006-2007 term to 2,500 in the last school year. This is expected to soar high further. Anne Malone, who helps homeless students, has said that nearly 10 families face foreclosure every day in Louisville. It has been found that about 7,600 homeless students have been enrolled with the term ending in June, 2008, which were 7,300 an year before. The Monday classes have been eliminated by the Caldwell Parish School District, located in northern Louisiana, in a bid to save fuel.

About 58,000 students in the Jefferson County in 2007 were entitled to free or reduced-price meals. It is envisioned that this number is going to go high by 62,000. Last year about 14.9 million students nationwide were eligible for free lunches and this year it is expected that there will be an additional 283,000 students to it. According to the National School Lunch Program, the families with four members with an earning not more than $39,220 per annum, the children of those families is eligible for a 30 cent reduction in breakfast and 40 cent reduction in lunch. But if the family earns less than $27,560, their children are eligible for free meals.

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The new real estate problem after foreclosure being faced by the people are the liar loans. This is a type of loan/mortgage that has been approved without any prior proof of the income or assets of the borrower. The worst of this loan are known as ninja loans, which means unable to repay due to no income, no job, and no assets. So far, the biggest problem that was being faced by the housing market nationwide was the subprime foreclosures. But now the liar loans has stood as a big threat to the defaulters and their numbers are increasing rapidly.

According to the housing economist of Virginia, Thomas Lawler, this liar loans problem are more prevalent in those areas where the prices of home are dropping sharply. Some of these places include Nevada, Florida, Arizona, and California. In fact in some parts of US, the bad loan conditions are expected to restore the mortgage crisis for another two years which is turn is going to increase the rate of foreclosure homes. Lawler says that these loans are going to have a very bad effect. The homeowners undergoing the problem of liar loans in this ongoing foreclosure market are unable to refinance as the prices in those markets have plunged and also the lenders are seeking for the income and assets documentation.

IndyMac Bank, Bear Stearns, and American Home Mortgage banks, which specialized in those loans, have now become inoperative. The biggest buyers and backers of mortgages of the nation named Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been reported with a loss of about $3.1 billion between the periods from April to June. About half of the credit lost by them came from liar loans. Countrywide Financial Corp, which is a part of the Bank of America Corp., used to be counted among the biggest providers of liar loans. This type of loan earned huge popularity when there was a stable real estate market in US, especially among those investors who wanted to get properties fast. Besides, the mortgage industry found this loan to be very profitable as they enjoyed higher interest rates and higher fees.

First American CoreLogic has put forward that nearly 13 percent of the borrowers of liar loans have almost defaulted by two months on their payments in the month of May. Some of the mortgage bankers and brokers who have been able to survive have said that they were also brushed up by the housing problem to some extent.

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The problem of foreclosures has also been hitting the middle and upper middle class families. This is affecting people from all income groups and professions. The scenario is worsening day by day. The slow pace of US economy together with the tight mortgage terms and conditions are responsible for it. Hampton Township is one of the well to do areas with a large number of upper middle class families living there. It has been observed that about 30 homes have been foreclosed in 2007. About 7 years ago, only two homes were foreclosed. It can be seen that the upper middle class families are also not left out from the problem of foreclosures besides the working class. The real estate is heavily suffering for that.

Dan Murrer of RealSTATs has prepared a report on the foreclosure filing in about 32 well-off neighborhoods and towns. He has said, “It’s hitting people of all professions and backgrounds,” According to his findings, there has been a 210 percent increase in foreclosures. From 180 foreclosures in 2000, it has increased to 558 in 2007. This is indeed a huge increase. This reveals that this problem of real estate is increasing beyond sub-prime loans in low income places.

Mt. Lebanon has recorded a jump from 10 to 25 foreclosures while in Bethel Park, the number of foreclosures have increased from 12 to 38. In the year 2007, the number of foreclosures in Ross was 38. This is in fact a big increase from what it was in 2000. The number of foreclosures then was only 5. The other areas that are facing the brunt of foreclosures are Plum Boro in the east and Moon Township in the west. There has been an increase in foreclosures from 12 to 35 in Plum Boro and 8 to 27 in Moon Township.

Murrer has said, “The fact that foreclosures are increasing in these middle-class neighborhoods is indicating that the ‘average Joe’ with a standard mortgage is the one who’s getting foreclosed on,” According to Ray Dietz of Allstate Financial, it is the greed of both the buyers and lenders that have led to the increasing rate of foreclosures today. In a bid to buy a larger home the buyers did not submit the proof of income to get the mortgage and at the same time the lender did not ask for it. However, others who once were able to afford their mortgage are also facing the danger of losing their home due to high living cost or due to loss of their job.

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The rate of foreclosures in the state of Ohio is flattening as per the reports of a firm that keeps a check on the US real estate foreclosures. It has also been stated by a lawyer, who has been playing a great role in providing help to the homeowners of Ohio to prevent foreclosures, that within a year or so the number of foreclosure homes is further going to come down in Ohio. This state had the sixth highest foreclosure rate in US during the second quarter. As per the report of the Irvine, California based RealtyTrac Inc firm, one out of every 134 households were sent a foreclosure notice.

The real estate foreclosures filing nationally has almost doubled from what it was a year ago. In fact, this situation is going to worsen as viewed by RealtyTrac spokesman Daren Blomquist. But the condition in Ohio seems to get better as opposite to the worsening situation in Nevada and California. There has been a 147 percent increase in the foreclosure filing in Nevada in the second quarter than what it was last year. On the other hand, the real estate foreclosure filing rate in California has nearly tripled in comparison to the last year’s second quarter records.

It has been reported by RealtyTrac that about 37,689 properties in Ohio got into foreclosure process on 25th July, 2008. This is 21 percent more than the records of the previous three months and 27 percent more than the same period in 2007. An attorney of the Equal Justice Foundation, Paul Bellamy said that there is still an ongoing shock due to the boiling down in the sub-prime mortgages. This situation started in Ohio and also in the Midwest before it affected the rest of the nation. Ohio has been facing it for the past 10 years.

Bellamy expects that if the economy of the place remains stable, then the real estate foreclosures will decline by the end of this decade in Ohio. The US Senate has passed a bill that will help about 400,000 homeowners to get out of the foreclosure situation. This bill mentions of provisions that will help in refinancing into an affordable loan program. With the signing of the bill by President Bush, the worried homeowners are expected to see a better future.

George Voinovich, Ohio Senator, has said in praise of the bill:

“This bipartisan compromise is a solid step in the right direction and includes the types of immediate relief and assistance struggling homeowners have been waiting for”

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There has been a marked 121 percent increase in the nationwide real estate foreclosures from the second quarter of the last year. It has almost doubled. The tight lending standard, soft housing sales, dropping US economy together with declining home value has been instrumental in making the situation worse for homeowners. Many have failed to refinance into an affordable loan and many are unable to get prospective buyers. It has been reported by Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac Inc. that about 739,714 homes throughout the nation received one foreclosure notice during the quarter. Or it can be put this way that one in every 171 US households received a foreclosure notice.

The foreclosure rates have been the highest in Florida, California, Nevada, and Alaska during the quarter. Among them, Nevada accounts for one foreclosure filing for every 43 households. North Dakota and Alaska has faced a continual increase in real estate foreclosures. Besides, Florida and California cities have reported 16 of the 20 worst metro foreclosure rates. The situation in Stockton, California, is that the foreclosure rate is nearly seven times as compared to the national average. It has reported about one foreclosure filing per 25 households. The chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com named Mark Zandi figures that about 2.8 million households in US by the next year end will be either facing foreclosures, or sell their home at a price lower than the value of mortgage, or place it into the lender’s hands.

According to RealtyTrac, which keeps a track of auction sale notices, default notices, and bank repossessions, over 222,000 properties in the second quarter across the nation were taken over by banks. This made for 30 percent of total foreclosures that means a hike of 24 percent from the last quarter. A housing rescue bill has been prepared by the Senate to keep away 400,000 homeowners from real estate foreclosures. It has also been designed to provide support to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two troubled mortgage finance companies.

The chairman of the House Financial Services Committee named Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass. has ordered to have a thorough regulation of the loan servicing companies if they do not make modifications to keep away foreclosures. It has been reported by the Congress that a large number of homeowners have complained about not getting help from their lenders to keep away foreclosures. According to James Barber of the American Bankers Association, they try their level best to avoid real estate foreclosures.

One can only hope for better news in the future!

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RealtyTrac the prominent online marketplace for all kinds of foreclosure properties, recently published its Q2 2008 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report. According to this, during the 2nd quarter of the year, 739,714 U.S. properties were reported to have foreclosure filings. This is about a 121% rise from the second quarter last year, and almost 14 % increase since the previous quarter of 2008. As per as the report out of every 171 U.S. household, one received a foreclosure filing in this year’s second quarter. RealtyTrac reports the most comprehensive and biggest national database of bank-owned and foreclosure properties, with more than 1.5 million properties from about 2,200 counties throughout the nation. It is also provides foreclosure data to The Wall Street Journal’s Real Estate Journal, Yahoo! Real Estate, and MSN Real Estate.

The CEO of RealtyTrac, Mr. James J. Saccacio stated that, “Although much of the fallout from foreclosures is being driven by rampant activity in a few states, such as Nevada, California, Florida, Ohio, Arizona and Michigan, most areas of the country are seeing at least some increase in foreclosure activity.” In the second quarter, 95 of the 100 biggest metro areas and 48 in 50 states in the US experienced great rise in foreclosure activity. Saccacio also said that, “Bank repossessions, or REOs, accounted for 30 percent of total foreclosure activity in the second quarter, up from 24 percent of the total in the first quarter.”

Out of every 43 households in Nevada, one received a foreclosure filing in the second quarter. This makes it the highest foreclosure rate in the states and about four times than the national average. According to reports, the quarter saw foreclosure filings on 24,657 properties of Nevada, up by 26 % from the last quarter and up by 147 % since the first quarter of last year. As many as 202,599 California properties have foreclosure filings in the second quarter, which is the maximum total throughout the states and the second highest foreclosure rate in the nation. The state with the third highest foreclosure rate in the US is Arizona, with one out of 70 homes getting a foreclosure filing. Foreclosure filings in Arizonian properties were up by about 36 % since the previous quarter and nearly 4 times since in the second quarter last year.

The other states, which showed a high rate of foreclosure properties, are Florida, Colorado, Ohio, Michigan, Georgia, Illinois, and Massachusetts. Some of the top 20 US metro areas with increased real estate foreclosure activity are Las Vegas, Miami, Phoenix, Detroit, and San Diego.

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At last, Fed’s new rules have been approved for Roxanna Evans. She has a home in Ohio, which she bought some years ago, but didn’t stay there. Now she is facing foreclosure on that property. The mortgage lender along with the real estate agent and appraiser together are inflating the cost of the home. It is expected that approval of these rules will be profitable for so many real estate owners and prevent them from losing their house.

The sky high rate of foreclosure is a result of shady lending practices. The era of the booming real estate market ended up giving birth to thousands of “subprime” borrowers, which actually belong to lower income groups. They have just taken loans without any concern of how to repay them. The lenders have utilized this opportunity and imposed a higher rate of interest on home loans. This deceptive act is responsible behind extension of high-cost loans thus causing foreclosures.

Fed’s new rules will impose some restrictions for lenders, like:

1. approving loans without borrower’s income proof
2. penalizing borrowers who have paid off loans earlier
3. approving loans without confirmation of borrower’s ability to repay
4. misleading advertising

However, critics are doubtful about the relevance of these rules. They remember the former experience of Fed’s failure on the same issue, which resulted in increasing numbers of foreclosure.

These rules won’t achieve an immediate result, because:

1. There are very few numbers of real estate buyers
2. Many of those shady practices along with lenders are wiped out from the real estate market during the mortgage meltdown
3. Disappearance of “real subprime” market
4. Lenders are less interested in expensive foreclosures, and are trying to solve the existing cases
5. Lenders have to be more strict about approving new loans

The new rules will take defect on 1st October, 2009. The rules are stick to some basic points, like:

1. Lenders should advertise properly mentioning detail about rates, monthly installments etc.
2. They should clear the exact time period, and mention fixed rate of interest that is applicable
3. Mortgage companies should credit the payment to the borrower’s account on the same day it is received, to prevent the borrowers in paying late fees
4. Agents are restricted in inflating the value of a home
5. Brokers will get their yield-spread-premiums as before

No doubt, this is a “thoughtful effort to tackle difficult concerns”, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. However, the lenders think that getting new loans will become difficult after the rules are in effect.

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Good news from Butler County! Number of real estate properties sent to sheriff’s sales in June has been reduced by 70% in comparison to last year’s number. According to Butler County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Sgt. Monty Meyer, the number of foreclosure is 106 homes in June 2008 while the number of sold real estate properties was 152 homes in the same period last year.

The number is really hopeful with reference to the whole state. A report by RealtyTrac has shown that Ohio is in the sixth position among the states of the nation with the highest foreclosure filings. The state has experienced a rise of 11% in sheriff’s sales activity in June. 1 in every 382 households has got a foreclosure notice in June this year. Decreased sales number in Butler County would be a signal of good things to come in the local real estate market. This change in the number of foreclosed properties has actually reversed the situation.

John Sawyer of Sawyer Realtor in Middleton has said that in the market, there are “too many houses and not enough buyers”. This situation may help the local real estate market to bounce back. Not only foreclosed properties, but in general, there are many homes available in the market. This fact is putting sales off by 10% to 15%.

The price of foreclosed house is much lesser than a house with an owner, but still, people are not interested in those houses. As foreclosed houses are almost abandoned and not in great condition to live, real buyers don’t opt for them.

The National Association of Realtors is expecting that the foreclosure market may start its process of stabilization by the end of this year. According to The National Association of Realtors, or NAR, figures “show that the foreclosure market is right on target”. Lora Reece, the president of the Greater Hamilton of Realtors is happy with this projection of the NAR. She has said “it’s so nice to hear some positive things about our industry”.

Stephen Wilson, chairman and CEO of LCNB Corp. during a development forum in Lebanon has said that the mortgage lenders are not interested in being part of loose lending practices anymore. That may help to restrict irresponsible borrowers to borrow more than their capacity. A fall in foreclosure sales may be a result of this restriction.

In July 2007, 121 real estate properties were sent to sheriff’s sales and sold. But for July this year, 80 cases have been sent to sheriff’s auctions, according to Mayer.

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