Foreclosures.com: Phoenix Foreclosure Notices Approach 300 Per Week

[UpInArms]

http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20041213005249&newsLang=en

SACRAMENTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 13, 2004--Northern California based Foreclosures.com, an investment advisory firm specializing in foreclosure properties reported today that foreclosure activity in Maricopa County has increased in October and November 2004.

"We saw 1165 new notices of trustee sales in the Phoenix metro area in October, and 1254 in November," said Foreclosures.com president Alexis McGee. She added that a total of 4,996 sales were pending in November, up from 4873 in October.

"This rise in foreclosure activity is a disturbing trend," McGee said, "because the Phoenix area economy is in full recovery and housing sales are still strong. 20% of home sales are to incoming retirees who often bring cash and stable incomes with them."

Ms. McGee went on to say that she suspected predatory lending as a major contributing factor. "Arizona has yet to join at least 20 other states in enacting legislation to curb abusive lending practices," she pointed out. "We applaud State Attorney General Terry Goddard's determination to do something about this, but we don't see a lot of progress."

...more...

[phantom power]

1. "It's disturbing, because it forces us to admit that the economy

isn't as strong as we want you to think it is."

[hatrack]

2. This is particularly intriguing in light of an earlier LBN post

The one about how we're just going to build and build and build new homes and office parks for ever and ever and ever.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=1067929&mesg_id=1067929

And these new homes and office parks will be purchased by . . . . Bueller? Anyone?

[ohioliberal]

3. Hell I know the economy sucks

I've been out of work for almost two years and we almost had our house foreclosed on, thankfully our newphew bailed us out. We had to sell one of our cars to pay him back along with all of our other outstanding bills. I hate * for what he's done with this economy.

[Vanje]

4. The Bush Economy is booming!

.....for collection agencies and repo men.

[genieroze]

12. And box makers for all those home owners who lost their homes.

Gotta have some place for them to live. How about a faith based cardboard box? :puke:

[VegasWolf]

5. Hear that groaning noise, the housing bubble is trembling! Long

live emperor monkey.

[Bono71]

9. Feelings like its around the corner, doesn't it?

[struggle4progress]

6. Temporary Home Ownership Reaches Record Levels. eom

[hatrack]

7. ROFLMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's it in a nutshell! :toast:

[UpInArms]

8. here's another foreclosure article

Courthouse-steps sale hard on many

http://www.commercialappeal.com/mca/local_news/article/0,1426,MCA_437_3395232,00.html

(free registration or try www.bugmenot.com)

As Roberta Watkins lay dying of cancer, a runner from Boshwit Brothers Mortage Corp. taped a summons to the front door of her home.

Watkins, a 79-year-old widow, was being evicted from the house she'd owned since 1977.

Relatives said they never knew Watkins had taken a new home loan -- with interest and costs topping 20 percent a year -- much less that she had defaulted and lost her house in a foreclosure sale.

Along with the house, her family may have lost as much as $50,000 in equity.

...more...

"If we had known we could have borrowed money to pay it off,'' daughter Ernestine Tate said.

[readmylips]

10. Lots of bankruptcy homes in my neighborhood....

Last week I was watching a car through my window that seemed suspicious. He kept stopping at certain houses, taking notes and moving on to the next house.

I got in my car and chased him down. I thought he was the jerk from the homes association. The guy turned out to the a nice guy and he was taking notes on the condition of the outside of homes and taking photos. He was from the bank and showed me his ID.

He said three of my neighbor's homes are going into bankruptcy, and four of the over a million $ homes across the street are also going into bankruptcy. I was surprised. He said the house bubble is about to burst and it ain't gonna be pretty for Arizona. He said, one out of three shopping malls are in great trouble.

[Erika]

11. My son & his wife in Phoenix filed bankruptcy but

so far have been able to hold on to their home.

They got caught up in the Clinton good times and did spend too much. Their lifestyle was based on both of them working. She has developed several medical conditions which keeps her from working but she will be able to return to work soon. The biggest factor in the bankruptcy was the co-pays and deductibles of my son's insurance plan which has cut benefits and raised premiums.

Good times are NOT here again.

[elsiesummers]

13. Read about a month ago that PA/Poconos forclosures are at a record level:

What I recall (IIRC):

Apparently the forclosure rate is so terrible that Ed Rendell is having the state of PA study the foreclosures in PA, especially the Poconos. (If you google the PA state government Portal site you will find more info.) Apparently Pike county had one of the highest foreclosure rates in the nation.

Much has to do with predatory lending made by some specific builders who targeted low income New Yorkers - and there are law suits going on and possible state prosecutions of some lenders and builders.

But, also, there are apparently concerns that the Poconos problem may be the canary in the coal mine since statewide foreclosures are increasing in PA. So part of Rendell's goal (some sort of task force study) is to uncover foreclosure as a social and economic systemic problem before it becomes catastrophic.