November 5, 200717 yr ^Why? This article basically tells us everything we've already heard - although it's news to me that Northwest Airlines is a "big local employer" :wtf: Does someone work for the Plain Dealer? I see the following didn't get bolded: "Nationwide problem - Cleveland's situation is not unique." "Her concern is that many recently regenerated neighbourhoods in New York will soon be blighted by crisis again." :roll: clevelandskyscrapers.com Cleveland Skyscrapers on Instagram
November 5, 200717 yr 2007 Top 100 Foreclosure Metros. Note 4 of the top 10 are in California and other top 10's are in booming cities like Las Vegas. 1 STOCKTON, CA 8,169 27 256 2 DETROIT/LIVONIA/DEARBORN, MI 28,705 29 99 3 LAS VEGAS/PARADISE, NV 22,928 31 142 4 RIVERSIDE/SAN BERNARDINO, CA 41,351 33 198 5 SACRAMENTO, CA 20,516 36 241 6 DENVER/AURORA, CO 23,842 42 11 7 MIAMI, FL 20,275 46 74 8 BAKERSFIELD, CA 5,365 47 222 9 MEMPHIS, TN 10,800 49 17 10 CLEVELAND/LORAIN/ELYRIA/MENTOR, OH 18,844 50 106 11 FORT LAUDERDALE, FL 15,720 50 72 12 ATLANTA/SANDY SPRINGS/MARIETTA, GA 36,502 54 17 13 FORT WORTH/ARLINGTON, TX 13,221 57 -10 14 FRESNO, CA 4,867 60 183 15 INDIANAPOLIS, IN 11,677 62 -6 16 DAYTON, OH 5,966 63 96 17 DALLAS, TX 23,284 65 -15 18 AKRON, OH 4,378 70 85 19 OAKLAND, CA 13,482 70 152 20 COLUMBUS, OH 10,706 70 85 21 JACKSONVILLE, FL 7,513 73 20 22 PHOENIX/MESA, AZ 21,378 74 139 23 SAN DIEGO, CA 14,859 75 164 24 TAMPA/ST PETERSBURGH/CLEARWATER, FL 15,905 79 68 25 WARREN/FARMINGTON HILLS/TROY, MI 13,093 80 92 26 TOLEDO, OH 3,530 84 47 27 VENTURA, CA 3,100 86 183 28 NEWHAVEN/MILFORD, CT 4,017 86 547 29 LOS ANGELES/LONG BEACH, CA 38,199 87 125 30 CHICAGO, IL 34,818 88 45 31 SARASOTA/BRADENTON/VENICE, FL 3,919 94 166 32 EDISON, NJ 9,462 98 58 33 ORLANDO, FL 8,325 98 49 34 CINCINNATI, OH 8,949 100 166 35 WORCESTER, MA 3,097 101 374 36 LAKE/KENOSHA, IL-WI 2,454 101 27 37 CAMDEN, NJ 2,761 101 56 38 CHARLOTTE/GASTONIA, NC 6,498 101 116 39 PALM BEACH, FL 6,063 102 32 40 GARY, IN 2,614 108 49 41 LITTLE ROCK/NORTH LITTLE ROCK, AR 2,617 108 -39 42 KANSAS CITY, MO-KS 7,703 111 117 43 SAN ANTONIO, TX 6,409 112 -1 44 HARTFORD, CT 4,326 112 446 45 ORANGE, CA 9,012 113 153 46 AUSTIN/ROUND ROCK, TX 5,155 115 -21 47 SPRINGFIELD, MA 2,424 116 234 48 BRIDGEPORT/STAMFORD/NORWALK, CT 2,847 122 552 49 TUCSON, AZ 3,323 122 55 50 NEWARK, NJ 6,745 124 20 51 TACOMA, WA 2,427 125 23 52 HOUSTON/BAYTOWN/SUGARLAND, TX 16,057 127 1 53 ESSEX, MA 2,179 135 409 54 OKLAHOMA CITY, OK 3,660 138 -22 55 TULSA, OK 2,712 143 -12 56 SAN JOSE/SUNNYVALE/SANTA CLARA, CA 4,197 148 105 57 SUFFOLK/NASSAU, NY 6,624 150 17 58 ST LOUIS, MO-IL 8,023 151 55 59 BOSTON/QUINCY, MA 4,862 153 342 60 RALEIGH/CARY, NC 2,505 158 105 61 NASHVILLE/DAVIDSON, TN 3,788 161 31 62 LOUISVILLE, KY 3,150 169 7 63 SALT LAKE CITY, UT 2,185 172 -39 64 EL PASO, TX 1,306 187 -2 65 CAMBRIDGE/NEWTON/FRAMINGHAM, MA 3,045 193 313 66 WASHINGTON/ARLINGTON/ALEXANDRIA, DC-VA-MD 8,483 195 430 67 PHILADALPHIA, PA 8,086 198 2 68 ALBUQUERQUE, NM 1,635 208 -38 69 ROCHESTER, NY 2,041 215 208 70 GREENSBORO/HIGHPOINT, NC 1,336 225 75 71 BIRMINGHAM/HOOVER, AL 1,986 227 157 72 OMAHA/COUNCIL BLUFFS, NE-IA 1,480 229 158 73 MILWAUKEE/WAUKESHA/WST ALLIS, WI 2,782 231 22 74 SCRANTON/WILKES/BARRE/HAZLETON, PA 1,076 239 110 75 MINNEAPOLIS/ST PAUL/BLOOMINGTON, MN 5,270 245 201 76 SEATTLE/BELLEVUE/EVERETT, WA 4,302 246 7 77 KNOXVILLE, TN 1,211 246 9 78 SAN FRANCISCO, CA 2,765 263 83 79 NEW ORLEANS, LA 2,178 267 610 80 PITTSBURGH, PA 3,917 281 -22 81 PROVIDENCE/NEW BEDFORD, RI 1,489 301 473 82 NEW YORK/WAYNE/WHITE PLAINS, NY 14,300 305 47 83 BUFFALO/CHEEKTOWAGA/TONAWANDA, NY 1,565 332 76 84 PORTLAND/VANCOUVER/BEAVERTON, OR 2,426 353 7 85 BETHESDA/FREDERICK/GAITHERSBURG, MD 1,196 368 581 86 BALTIMORE/TOWSON, MD 2,816 387 275 87 WICHITA, KS 633 399 0 88 POUGHKEEPSIE/NEWBURGH/MIDDLETOWN, NY 566 428 2 89 ALBANY/SCHENECTADY/TROY, NY 690 544 82 90 CHARLESTON, SC 483 547 -23 91 WILMINGTON, DE 469 588 108 92 SYRACUSE, NY 441 643 3 93 BATON ROUGE, LA 456 668 265 94 ALLENTOWN/BETHLEHEM/EASTON, PA 403 756 34 95 COLUMBIA, SC 392 757 -49 96 NORFOLK/VIRGINIA BEACH/NEWPORT NEWS, VA 747 787 191 97 HONOLULU, HI 286 1,151 68 98 MCALLEN/EDINBURG/PHARR, TX 155 1,494 -35 99 GREENVILLE, SC 151 1,721 -66 100 RICHMOND, VA 213 2,319 -1
November 5, 200717 yr Cleveland is facing a rising crime wave. The crime rate in Cleveland year-to-date is considerably lower across all categories in 2007 than during the same time period in 2006, with the exception of homicides (which is slightly up). Is crime a problem? Yes. Is crime on the rise? No. I really wish the media would do a little more fact-finding, particularly someone as esteemed and with as wide a reach as the BBC.
November 5, 200717 yr A way out? The only way out, says Ms Gerecke, would be national loan terms agreed for the whole industry. One such plan has been proposed by Sheila Bair, head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), one of the key banking regulators. She told the BBC that sub-prime interest rates should not be reset if the borrower has kept up all payments and is not in arrears. But such a deal is proving extremely difficult to reach, given that thousands of investors around the world own a share of these sub-prime mortgages. In a year when the "Fed" is cutting interest rates, why should not the lenders be able to offer lower, refinanced rates? Their source of borrowing would have lower rates, so it should be possible. I am with Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann. These loan packagers are savvy Wall Street types who figured out how to scam both the homeowners and the bond industry. These people should be in jail.
November 5, 200717 yr Those maps really hammer the point home about subprime lending and esp. about foreclosures. Based on the list we could do this for other Ohio citys too. My question is what happens when the banks take over the property. Do they try to resell, rent, or just keep it vacant? One would think these places would go back on the market sooner or later, at least in suburban locations.
November 6, 200717 yr I heard they usually fix them up and resell, typically for much lower than what the defaulting party paid. they also auction them (often "as is"). If one were an opportunist they would zap a few up and then rent to the newly displaced (forclosed upon and homeless) . Participating in this would be a little too much bad Karma for my taste though.
November 6, 200717 yr My question is what happens when the banks take over the property. There are a couple of things that happen when the bank takes over, Generally it goes as follows: The bank takes ownership of a property before it goes through forecloser...Remember they get kicked out before it goes through the courts, which typically takes around a year in NE Ohio...While that house is in the court system, legally there isn't much they can do with a house...Each bank keeps there own foreclosers, but it usually defaults to the underwriter or collateral of the loan to do the work, and around here that is Fannie Mae...Most of the boarded up and vacant properties are owned by them, I would say 90%...So even though, for example, Key Bank might have approved a loan, Fannie generally is the one putting the money for these secondary loans... Once the property is sitting, Fannie goes in and either puts some money into a rehab, which it hardly does in the city, or boards it up and does bare minimum maintenance (Cleans up garbage, cuts the grass)...Boarded up houses can go as cheap as 2-3 grand (No Kidding), but more typically go in the 15-25 range...They still go through a Realtor, but they are working for Fannie and deal directly with them... Sometimes if a property sits long enough, they go to an auction, but another bank typically buys it up at and just lets it sit...The try to flip them making a couple hundred dollars each, multiply that times a couple houses it starts to add up...Again, the same house can go into forecloser more than once, depending on the loans and such... If you wanna see a vary partial list of Fannie's owned houses you can go here, they don't keep it very up to date: http://www.mortgagecontent.net/reoSearchApplication/fanniemae/reoSearch.jsp
November 6, 200717 yr God that map of foreclosures is pretty sad - you can see Rockefeller Park, the Collinwood industrial yards, the industrial area between Slavic Village and Buckeye-Shaker, and University Circle as about the only clear spots on the east side where there's nothing to foreclose on (there's a little rectangle of Shaker Square that's clear also, and another rectangle just southwest of it - I can't figure out what would be there?) Central looks good because it's mostly government housing, I guess. I wonder who the one foreclosure dot is in Hunting Valley (there's one in Bentleyville too) and there are a decent number in Westlake, Strongsville, and Solon.
November 6, 200717 yr She still visits the house every day, trying to protect if from drug dealers and burglars, and leaves her dog in the backyard. Dogs are supposed to lounge on the sofa and get their ears scratched. Ok, I am a bleeding heart, I admit it. All of this reminds me of stories of events leading up to the Great Depression. The agricultural economy was already in collapse in the 1920s and people lost their land and homes. The bunch of us have been hoping for a soft landing where Cleveland would make a slow turn back to being a very pleasant place to live. Now we have an environment where a hurricane of foreclosures is going to force people to resettle with families...somewhere else. Who is ever going to come back? The job market is not strong. The houses are old and unattractive. The houses are doubtlessly energy losers with leaky windows and scant insulation. They probably have design defects that will prevent them from being superinsulated. Homes designed for a cheap energy period in the 20th or 19th century are wholly obsolete today. Didn't somebody upthread say that homes will be condemned and demolished?
November 7, 200717 yr Central looks good because it's mostly government housing, I guess. If I can chime in, Central has the greatest concentration of public housing, but single-family housing is the prevalent. The Villages of Central project (http://www.bbcdevelopment.org/html/development/villagesofcentral.htm - check out the spiffy new website!), in which about 265 of the 465 homes have been built, has less than a 1% foreclosure rate. The neighboring Central Commons, completed in 2000, is incredibly stable as well.
November 8, 200717 yr State gets tough on lenders that won't promise to modify loans rather than foreclose Thursday, November 8, 2007 3:26 PM By Mark Niquette and Tracy Turner THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH The carrot didn’t work, so the state is turning to the stick to address the state's high foreclosure rate. Gov. Ted Strickland set a deadline for the biggest holders of subprime loans in Ohio to voluntarily agree work with consumers to modify those loans rather than foreclose on them. That deadline has passed without any servicer agreeing to the plan, so Strickland and other state officials plan a crackdown on lenders. Attorney General Marc Dann said he plans to issue more than a dozen civil subpoenas as soon as tomorrow to “ multiple companies in multiple levels” of the mortgage industry seeking evidence of possible violations of antitrust, civil-rights and consumer-sales-practice laws. ... More at: http://dispatch.com/live/content/business/stories/2007/11/08/foreclosure.html
November 13, 200717 yr Where Cleveland went wrong It's too easy to blame the city's housing collapse on Rust-belt economics. How bad government and greed made it one of the nation's foreclosure capitals. By Les Christie, CNNMoney.com staff writer November 13 2007: 3:16 PM EST CLEVELAND (CNNMoney.com) -- As the Treasurer of Cuyahoga County in Ohio, Jim Rokakis spends a lot of his time trying to deal with Cleveland's foreclosure crisis. When asked recently just how bad it is, Rokakis unfurled a six-foot by four-foot Cleveland city plot map. Each lot was covered with dots of red ink where foreclosed homes filled the plots. From a few feet away, the map looked heavily freckled, while some neighborhoods nearly melted together in crimson masses. Foreclosures hit Cleveland early and hard. By the summer of 2007, it had four of the top 21 ZIP codes for foreclosure filings in the United States. According to RealtyTrac, the city's 44105 ZIP, known as the Slavic Village, was the hardest hit U.S. community with 783 filings. ... More at: http://money.cnn.com/2007/11/12/real_estate/Cleveland_foreclosure_factors/index.htm?postversion=2007111315
November 13, 200717 yr God damned Taft &the Republicans went wrong! It wasn't "Cleveland" that went wrong! (UO has two threads on this, so I will repeat my ire.) The state legislature was dominated by banking interests." Cleveland tried to enact local anti-predatory lending ordinances in 2002, but national lenders then abandoned the market, according to Mark Wiseman, who heads the Cuyahoga County Foreclosure Prevention Program, which is part of the county treasurer's office. One bank representative, speaking under condition of anonymity, said the ordinances would have put local lending criteria well above and beyond the national standards. The lenders wanted no part of that. Wiseman said banking lobbyists got the state legislature to nullify the local ordinances. Until this year, Ohio was one of only two states that did not include mortgage borrowers in their consumer protection statutes. And when the state passed anti-predatory lending laws in 2006, the punitive damages part of the law was gutted during the lame duck legislative session at the end the year. That was the very same republican lame duck session that forced through all kinds of bills that no legislator who had to stand for election would support. Republicans claim to stand for "home rule" and "local control" only to the point where their lobbyist/funders conflict with home rule. Spare the anecdotes about three people buying luxury cars. CNN is a RW media outlet who carefully selects their stories and their angles. Don't see too much in depth reporting about the war there either. Just the fight between Bush and Congress. (I digress). Attorney General Marc Dann has a more credible angle on this. The lending industry used their Wall Street saavy to game the system to rip off the homeowners and the bond market who bought the loans.
November 14, 200717 yr Ohio is a leader in housing downturn Foreclosures in six areas among worst in nation Wednesday, November 14, 2007 3:37 AM By Mike Pramik THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH Ohio's six biggest cities were among the country's foreclosure leaders in the third quarter, a company that tracks foreclosed homes said yesterday. The report reflects a difficult market for home buying and selling this year in Ohio as the subprime lending crisis and a slow economy have combined to chill the real-estate market. The Cleveland metropolitan area had the seventh-worst rate in the United States, with one foreclosure filing for every 57 households for the three months that ended Sept. 30, according to RealtyTrac, which brings together buyers and sellers of foreclosed properties. ... More at: http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/business/stories/2007/11/14/Third_quarter_foreclosures.ART_ART_11-14-07_C10_6L8FHGQ.html?sid=101
November 14, 200717 yr That's disgusting. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
November 23, 200717 yr Given that foreclosures are hitting high-end and suburban development areas, I thought this story showed an interesting manifestation of the foreclosure problem..... public health. Upshot of foreclosures: Slimy pools Increases in West Nile virus cases are in areas where foreclosures are high The Associated Press updated 2:55 p.m. ET, Wed., Nov. 21, 2007 CONCORD, Calif. - Standing on the edge of a swimming pool gone bad, public health worker Jeremy Tamargo scoops up a sample of murky, brown water to make sure the mosquito treatment he administered earlier is still working. A collection of plastic toys stashed in a corner of the yard and a stuffed toy floating forlornly in the swampy water indicate a family once played here, until foreclosure forced a move. Now the once-sparkling, turquoise jewel is a “green pool,” a legacy of the foreclosure crisis — and a breeding ground for millions of potentially disease-carrying mosquitoes that have kept health officials busy in California and elsewhere. ... More at: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21917387/
November 25, 200717 yr Fascinating angle to the crisis. I never would have thought of that! "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
November 26, 200717 yr ^ That's straight out WRONG for a bank to say that it will not give loans/mortgages to low income area's. Isn't that extortion? Come on now. Most of their losses are on failed mortgages to buildings costings 100k and up. I can't see how 2 building can force them to look else where at offering mortgages. I thought it was always the individuals that mattered not the whole neighborhood.
November 26, 200717 yr If Union Savings Bank considers what they've done to be "investing", then I would like to invite them to divest themselves of all holdings within the Cincinnati city limits.
November 26, 200717 yr Ahem, Union Savings, ahem ... In the United States, the practice was fought first through passage of the Fair Housing Act of 1968 (which prevents redlining when the criteria for redlining are based on race, religion, gender, familial status, disability, or ethnic origin), and later through the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977, which requires banks to apply the same lending criteria in all communities. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redlining
November 26, 200717 yr Much insight (and diagrams) from Callahan: http://www.callahansclevelanddiary.com/?p=423#more-423 http://www.callahansclevelanddiary.com/?p=419
November 26, 200717 yr Ahem, Union Savings, ahem ... In the United States, the practice was fought first through passage of the Fair Housing Act of 1968 (which prevents redlining when the criteria for redlining are based on race, religion, gender, familial status, disability, or ethnic origin), and later through the Community Reinvestment Act of 1977, which requires banks to apply the same lending criteria in all communities. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redlining 8shadesofgray is correct. What they're threatening would put them in direct odds with CRA, which is something that all banks take very seriously. Nevertheless, there isn't an immediate impact for violating, other than the PR effect. Violations effect the bank's ability to expand, merge with or acquire another bank. They couldn't open any new branches until they cleaned up their act. But there's room for interpretation. They don't necessarily have to actively look for loans in low-to moderate income tract areas, they just can't deny a loan app on the sole basis of the property being in that area. Sounds like some verbal sparring from a hot head. Truthfully, I'm not sure what the attorney who was quoted was trying to say. Are they threatening to stop lending to inner city areas, or just to stop providing funds to maintain the existing ones they've taken possession of?
November 27, 200717 yr Report: Rising foreclosures to sap major metropolitan areas Tuesday, November 27, 2007 8:01 AM DETROIT (AP) — Rising foreclosures will lead to billions of dollars in lost economic activity next year in the nation's major metropolitan areas, but homeowners and financial institutions have the ability to work together to contain the effects, according to a report compiled for the U.S. Conference of Mayors. The report was released Tuesday ahead of a meeting of mayors from across the country in Detroit, where they hope to create policy recommendations to help address the nation's housing crisis. Prepared by forecasting and consulting firm Global Insight, the report said weak residential investment, lower spending and income in the construction industry and curtailed consumer spending because of falling home values will combine to hold back the nation's economic activity. ... More at: http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2007/11/27/housing.html
November 27, 200717 yr Here is the actual report http://usmayors.org/uscm/news/press_releases/documents/mortgagereport_112707.pdf
January 9, 200817 yr I'm glad people are starting to step up to sh!t like this http://www.wkyc.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=81000 Company accused of being slumlord for Cleveland housing code violations Michael O'Mara Created: 1/8/2008 5:43:10 PM Updated:1/8/2008 6:47:28 PM CLEVELAND -- Destiny Ventures owns 125 distressed homes across the city. They are now in hot water with residents, City Council, and the Housing Court. "I'm really frustrated", said Leonard Meeks. He's in the process of moving out of the home he wanted to buy on W. 73rd Street in Cleveland. He says the property owner, Destiny Ventures LLC, from Tulsa, Oklahoma, bought the the home from Deutsche Bank for just $750. Without investing a penny to fix the leaky roof or the tree growing through the home's foundation, Destiny Ventures tried to lure him into a purchase contract for more than $50,000. Meeks told Channel 3's Mike O'Mara, "Destiny is not being fair. They are screwing people. You should see my contract. It's ridiculous." Destiny Ventures owns a home on W. 81st street and paid a purchase price of $1,000. But the property has already been condemned by the City of Cleveland and sits vacant. The lawn is littered with malt liquor bottles. City Councilman Matthew Zone is clearly disturbed by the empty homes and squalor in his ward. "You've got this piece of junk behind me that brings down the property values of good residents. Companies like Destiny Ventures are piranhas preying on poor people. They don't spend money and just try to flip them to unsuspecting buyers." Destiny Ventures has already been hit with a record $40,000 fine in Cleveland Housing Court. The company didn't even bother to send a representative to answer the complaint by the City and was found guilty in absentia. Cleveland Municipal Court Housing Division Judge Raymond Pianka said he won't tolerate anyone ignoring the code violations in his courtroom. "We are going to move forward on preserving property and neighborhoods in Cleveland" said Pianka. Added Judge Pianka, "Even if the companies like Destiny Ventures don't show up in court, we are going to move forward. And we will find a way to collect our fines, too." On Cleveland's near west side, you see special neighborhood watch signs near city sidewalks. But many residents like Richard Turczyk say they feel trapped and surrounded by empty houses. As the Cleveland neighborhood foreclosure cancer continues to grow, so do the numbers of homes standing vacant. Pointing across the W. 81st street, Richard said, "See that one, it's empty. And that duplex empty. Next one empty, next one empty, next one after that empty. At least ten houses with nobody in them except kids doing drugs. All foreclosed homes. And it's just getting worse." Destiny Ventures LLC currently owns 125 homes across the city of Cleveland. The company is due back in Municipal housing court on January 14th to face more code violations. The company did not return calls from Channel 3 News seeking comment. VIDEO: http://www.wkyc.com/video/player.aspx?aid=51773&bw=
January 9, 200817 yr Took me a while to find a person's name attached to Destiny Ventures. Finally found one at: http://www.homesjournal.net/buysell/markettrends/20070315-hagerty.html Steven A. Nodine, a former manager of foreclosed real estate for First Union Corp., now part of Wachovia Corp., says Mr. Barnes buys more foreclosed homes than anyone he knows. Mr. Nodine runs Tulsa-based Destiny Ventures LLC, which buys foreclosed homes from lenders. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
January 11, 200817 yr Cleveland sues 21 banks over foreclosure crisis Friday, January 11, 2008 10:47 AM CLEVELAND (AP) -- The city of Cleveland, an epicenter of the nation's home foreclosure crisis, has sued 21 banks, claiming subprime lending in inner-city neighborhoods has created a public nuisance that hurt property values and city tax collections. The lawsuit, filed Thursday in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court, seeks to recover hundreds of millions of dollars in damages, including lost taxes from devalued property and money spent demolishing and boarding up thousands of abandoned houses. "To me, this is no different than organized crime or drugs," Mayor Frank Jackson told The Plain Dealer. He arranged a news conference Friday to detail the city's legal strategy. ... More at: http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/01/11/cleve.html
January 14, 200817 yr Lenders dumping Cleveland houses for less than market value Practice eroding values, official says Monday, January 14, 2008 Thomas Ott Plain Dealer Reporter Home values in Cuyahoga County are likely to take a big hit because banks that foreclose on houses are unloading them for less than half what they are supposed to be worth, a study shows. In Cleveland, lenders are dumping houses for less than a third of their market value as set by the county auditor, according to the study by Case Western Reserve University. "They are driving down the value of neighboring properties," Cleveland City Councilman Tony Brancatelli said Friday. ... More at: http://www.cleveland.com
January 17, 200817 yr PMI Mortgage Insurance Co. has released their latest national risk index assessment, a measure of the probability that house prices in various MSAs will be lower in two years than they are today. Despite sluggish real estate markets, Ohio remains a bastion of low risk of falling prices. Keep in mind that this is at the Metropolitan Statistical Area level, so it doesn't reflect risks of depreciation at a municipal level (e.g. escalating exurban prices could mask falling prices in central cities, or vice versa), but the news is generally good. Toledo had the highest risk indicator, with a 3% probability that home prices will be lower in two years. Lima came in at 2%. Most Ohio MSAs came in at 1% or less than !%. Compare this with Riverside, CA, with a risk of 94%, Las Vegas at 89% and Phoenix at 83%. While most of the risk fell in the Sun Belt, the Rust Belt didn't escape some levels of moderate risk, such as Detroit at 17%. http://www.pmi-us.com/media/pdf/products_services/eret/pmi_eret08v1s.pdf http://www.pmi-us.com/media/pdf/products_services/eret/pmi_eretappndx_08v1.pdf
January 23, 200817 yr Ohio vs. Freddie Mac Mortgage lender hid big risks, suit alleges Wednesday, January 23, 2008 3:16 AM By James Nash THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH The giant mortgage financer known as Freddie Mac swindled an Ohio pension system out of as much as $27 million by concealing its heavy investments in the battered subprime lending industry, Attorney General Marc Dann alleges in a lawsuit. Dann said the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. "secretly and intentionally participated in one of the largest housing investment deceptions in modern U.S. economic times." The lawsuit, filed Friday in federal court in Youngstown, alleges that Freddie Mac downplayed its investments in subprime lenders before its stock nosedived in November on news that it lost $2 billion in the third quarter, largely because of the collapse in the subprime market. ... More at: http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/01/23/FREDMAC.ART_ART_01-23-08_B1_9394SKM.html?sid=101
January 23, 200817 yr I don't know Everyone nows if you invest in ANYTHING it's a risk. Even low interest bonds.
February 13, 200817 yr Detroit had top foreclosure rate in '07 By ALEX VEIGA, AP Business Writer The Detroit area, hit hard by the double-whammy of unemployment and a slumping housing market, had the highest foreclosure rate in the nation last year, with several cities in California ranked close behind, an analysis of foreclosure activity in the country's largest 100 metropolitan areas shows. Some 4.9 percent of the households in the Detroit metro area were in some stage of foreclosure in 2007 — 4.8 times the national average, according to the study being released Wednesday by mortgage research company RealtyTrac Inc. Stockton, Calif., ranked second with about 4.8 percent of its households in some stage of foreclosure, while the Las Vegas metro area was third with a 4.2 percent rate. ... More at: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080213/ap_on_bi_ge/foreclosure_rates
February 14, 200817 yr Cincinnati had fewest foreclosures of Ohio metros in '07 Wednesday, February 13, 2008 - 12:24 PM EST Business Courier of Cincinnati Ohio was well-represented in the top 20 in RealtyTrac's ranking of 2007 metropolitan foreclosure rates - but Cincinnati had the lowest rate of the state's major cities. Nonetheless, Cincinnati ranked in the top third for foreclosures, according to RealtyTrac's "Year-End 2007 Metropolitan Foreclosure Report." Regional metropolitan rankings (100 largest U.S. metro areas): * The Cleveland/Lorain/Elyria/Mentor area ranked sixth, with nearly 3 percent of households in foreclosure, up 112 percent from 2006. * Akron was 12th, with 2.3 percent of its homes in foreclosure, up 107.5 percent. * Dayton was 15th with 2.1 percent in foreclosure, up 145.5 percent. * Indianapolis ranked 18th, with 2 percent in foreclosure, up nearly 8 percent. * Toledo was 19th, with 1.9 percent in foreclosure, up 117 percent. * Columbus was 25th, with 1.8 percent in foreclosure, up 86.4 percent. * Cincinnati ranked at No. 33, with 1.5 percent in foreclosure, up 104.4 percent. * Louisville was 74th, with 0.6 percent in foreclosure, down 12 percent from 2006. * Pittsburgh was 86th, with 0.4 percent in foreclosure, down almost 30 percent. ... More at: http://cincinnati.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2008/02/11/daily31.html?surround=lfn
February 15, 200817 yr Feb. 15, 2008 Councilman Zone testifies on EPA Brownfield Programs before US Congress On February 14, 2008 Councilman Matt Zone, Ward 17, testified before the United States House of Representative Transportation and Infrastructure’s Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment on behalf of the National League of Cities and the City of Cleveland. Councilman Zone’s testimony addressed the need for an increase in Federal funding for the EPA Brownfield Programs through raising the cap on assessment grant amounts, whether site-specific or community-wide, and an increase in technical assistance offered to communities. His testimony further urged Congress to enact legislation addressing and resolving the disincentives created by the potential liabilities associated with brownfield redevelopment by providing a waiver, a definitive limitation or an elimination of liability for non-contributing local governments coming into title of previously contaminated properties involuntarily. “Local governments rightly approach brownfield redevelopment as an economic development activity. Strategically redeveloping these contaminated properties means correcting the environmental injustices unduly thrown upon those living in our impoverished neighborhoods that are host to a disproportionate share of brownfields,” said Councilman Zone. “It means protecting our first responders by eliminating enclaves of criminal activity and structures of high fire risk. For Cleveland, it means protecting Lake Erie and our streams and rivers. It also means creating a more sustainable future by promoting urban infill rather than urban sprawl and incorporating more environmentally-friendly design and building stock in our existing urban fabric.” The EPA Brownfields Program is vital for local governments in aiding their redevelopment efforts. The City of Cleveland has had a successful partnership with the EPA Brownfields Program in redeveloping our urban landscape. Since 2004, Cleveland has received $800,000 in EPA brownfields assessment grant funds that led to the cleanup of nearly 100 acres. Assessment dollars are critical to local governments, as they support the first, and most risky, phase of a redevelopment project. Assessment funds granted by the EPA Brownfields Program assist local governments in evaluating the extent of contamination and potential costs for remediation. The City of Cleveland has successfully used these grants to leverage over $15 million. Without these funds many projects would not have gone forward and much more remains to be accomplished. Councilman Zone’s full testimony is available on www.clevelandcitycouncil.org. "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
February 19, 200817 yr Banks, home lenders face lawsuits State regulators, cities say Wall Street companies violated securities laws Tuesday, February 19, 2008 3:05 AM By Mark Jewell ASSOCIATED PRESS BOSTON -- Regulators are trying to punish Wall Street for mortgage-finance practices that may have duped borrowers and investors who supplied cash to fuel a housing boom that's turned bust. A handful of state securities regulators and a couple of foreclosure-blighted cities have fired the opening shots with lawsuits trying to prove that investment banks and big lenders are guilty of more than just bad business decisions and failing to foresee looming mortgage troubles. Some regulators say greed and fraud underlie much of the subprime mortgage mess that has spread across the broader housing market, triggering a spike in foreclosures. Aside from the civil cases, the FBI is looking at possible criminal action, focusing on what Wall Street companies knew about the risks of mortgage securities backed by subprime loans, and whether they hid risks from investors. ... More at: http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/business/stories/2008/02/19/subprime_wall_st_0219.ART_ART_02-19-08_C10_GH9D4HQ.html?sid=101
March 7, 200817 yr Interesting stat. http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/business/2008/03/06/romans.house.poor.cnn Also, notes the increase in late payments. How many payments do you need to miss, before the starts foreclosure proceedings?
March 13, 200817 yr RealtyTrac: Ohio 7th, Ky. 45th in foreclosure rates Business Courier of Cincinnati Thursday, March 13, 2008 - 12:05 PM EDT Ohio remained among the 10 states with the highest U.S. foreclosure rates while Kentucky ranked in the bottom five, a company that tracks foreclosures reported Thursday. RealtyTrac Inc. said it recorded 10,386 filings in Ohio for houses in default, auction or owned by a bank, or one filing for every 482 households. Of those filings, 3,930 were notices of pending litigation, 3,286 notices of foreclosure sale and 3,170 bank-owned filings. Ohio in January was ninth in foreclosures nationally, but its rate then was far steeper with one filing for every 392 households. February's pace marked an 18 percent decline from January for the state but a rise of nearly 40 percent from a year earlier. Ohio's foreclosure rate in January had leaped nearly 60 percent from the same month in 2007. ... More at: http://cincinnati.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories/2008/03/10/daily46.html?surround=lfn
March 13, 200817 yr Ohio launches major statewide foreclosure-prevention initiative Created: 3/13/2008 1:19:11 PM Updated:3/13/2008 1:43:00 PM COLUMBUS -- The Ohio Department of Commerce unveiled its "Save the Dream" campaign Thursday morning. The multi-media campaign is aimed at helping Ohioans take action to save their dream of homeownership. Ohio has the nation's highest foreclosure rate, according to a recent report by the Mortgage Bankers Association. The "Save the Dream" campaign includes radio and television advertisements, an information-rich Web site. ... More at: http://www.wkyc.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=85047
March 13, 200817 yr I can't imagine KYs economy is that much better than Ohio's. I wonder if they have weird foreclosure laws that make it hard to foreclose, thus artificially suppressing the count. Either that, we should all pack up and move there because they must be doing something right.
March 13, 200817 yr why prevention. :? It's this simple: Don't borrow more than you can afford! Stop trying to keep up with the Jones' That house in the burbs looked better on paper than it does now that you've moved in Understand what you're financial obligations are BEFORE you sign on the dotted line. This really hock's me off that the state has to bail out people for their own bad judgements! if it sounds to good to be true - than it usually is!
March 13, 200817 yr I can't imagine KYs economy is that much better than Ohio's. I wonder if they have weird foreclosure laws that make it hard to foreclose, thus artificially suppressing the count. Either that, we should all pack up and move there because they must be doing something right. It's called "Ohio has LAX foreclosure laws that are in place thanks to vigorous lobbying by the state's very powerful banking industry". And to see some of the results of those lax lending laws, check the "National City Bank" thread http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,478.0.html clevelandskyscrapers.com Cleveland Skyscrapers on Instagram
March 13, 200817 yr ^True. Wouldn't you think the population difference between the two states would pit Ohio form the start as well? Do these stats account for ratio differences? KY - 4.2 mill OH - 11.4 mill
March 14, 200817 yr I wonder if the Kentucky portion of Metro Cincinnati is a significant factor in Cincinnati's "low" foreclosure rate compared to the other Ohio metros. I can't imagine KYs economy is that much better than Ohio's. I wonder if they have weird foreclosure laws that make it hard to foreclose, thus artificially suppressing the count. Either that, we should all pack up and move there because they must be doing something right. Kentucky ranks 41st for job growth from Dec. 2000 - Dec. 2007 at 1.5%, adding 26,800 jobs. KY's job total grew by 0.3% in 2007. Ohio ranks 49th for job growth in that period at -3.7%, losing 209,400 jobs. OH's job total declined by 0.3% in 2007. I'm actually suprised KY's growth has been so meager... by far the worst performance of any "southern" state besides hurricane-ravaged Louisiana. But while Kentucky's been pretty stagnant... Ohio's massive job losses are a whole 'nother ball game. I doubt KY has "weird foreclosure laws"... if anything... Ohio is the state that had "weird foreclosure laws", as pointed out by MayDay. The state government even struck down the City of Cleveland's anti-predatory lending initiative a few years ago (MayDay can probably elaborate on that). However, I do think Ohio's economy is a major culprit in the statewide foreclosure disaster as well. The hardest hit regions of the country have mostly been some of the "fastest growing" where demand and speculation caused housing prices to spiral out of control. However, two foreclosure hotspots do not fit this profile: Ohio and Michigan. These two states have suffered the worst job losses in the country, which has depressed income growth and results in a lot of people falling hopelessly behind on payments.
March 17, 200817 yr Home buyers' opportunity Sunny side of the slump For first-time buyers, real-estate crisis is anything but gloom and doom Monday, March 17, 2008 3:09 AM By Kevin Kidder THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH Not a day goes by without news of the latest housing hurdle: another record for foreclosures, another drop in the average sale price, another mortgage bank struggling. No doubt about it: The housing industry remains in a slump, with plenty of statistics (nationally and locally) to prove it. Sale prices of central Ohio homes are the lowest in four years, averaging $152,790, according to the Columbus Board of Realtors. And January sales in central Ohio -- 1,225 -- were the fewest in that month in five years, even though more houses were on the market (16,402) than in any other January on record. ... More at: http://dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/03/17/0_BUYNOW.ART_ART_03-17-08_A1_QV9LQFL.html?sid=101 The cost of vacant homes: Suburban blight As foreclosures rise, cities must pay more to maintain properties Monday, March 17, 2008 3:12 AM By Alayna DeMartini THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH Someone tore through the ceiling and walls, scrounging for copper wire and pipe, and ravaged the house looking for valuables. Even the kitchen sink is gone. A woman once lived in the light-blue house in Mifflin Township; then she died in the summer of 2006, and it was left vacant. Now, wind whips through a shattered second-story window, and the back door is ajar. Water has warped it so it doesn't shut right. ... More at: http://dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/03/17/LEFT_ALONE.ART_ART_03-17-08_B1_5T9LQAM.html?sid=101
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