The Virginian-Pilot
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Foreclosure filings in Hampton Roads jumped to the highest point on record in December as lenders continued to repossess and auction off homes despite national efforts to stem foreclosures, a report to be released today found.
The number of local foreclosure-related notices last month hit 1,200, up 35 percent from November and 38 percent higher than a year ago, according to RealtyTrac, an online foreclosure-monitoring service based in Irvine, Calif. That tops the earlier high of 1,164 in April. The number includes home repossessions and auctions.
The spike in foreclosure activity came after several months of steady declines through the fall.
"Until the employment and economic situation turns around, we're going to see more and more of this," said James V. Koch, an economist at Old Dominion University. "I don't think this is the end of it. I still think we're in the middle of it."
Koch said national programs aimed at foreclosure prevention seem to be having little impact locally and across the country.
"I think that's a virtually inevitable result of having so many households underwater with their mortgages," Koch said.
Being "underwater" refers to owing more on a mortgage than a home is worth.
Koch added that some of the loan modification programs don't seem like long-term solutions for homeowners. "I don't think when someone is way underwater it's a good idea to try to keep them in the house," he said. "We're putting them in a permanent debt situation."
Foreclosure activity nationwide also jumped last month, as 349,519 properties received foreclosure notices, up 14 percent from November and 15 percent from a year earlier. The national data include notices of default, the first stage of the foreclosure process after a homeowner has missed mortgage payments.
The easing of foreclosure activity during the fall was "driven primarily by short-term factors: trial loan modifications, state legislation extending the foreclosure process and an overwhelming volume of inventory clogging the foreclosure pipeline," James J. Saccacio, RealtyTrac's CEO, said in a news release.
"In the long term, a massive supply of delinquent loans continues to loom over the housing market, and many of those delinquencies will end up in the foreclosure process in 2010 and beyond as lenders gradually work their way through the backlog," he said.
Dotty Acampora, a foreclosure prevention counselor for the nonprofit Virginia Beach Community Development Corp., said the number of homeowners seeking help has remained steady but that many are starting to get discouraged.
"A few people who have tried to work it out with their lender over the past year have just given up," she said. "They're just allowing themselves to be foreclosed on."
Many homeowners Acampora counsels have lost jobs or have been forced to work fewer hours.
"Some folks just couldn't make it," said Acampora, who spent nearly two decades as a mortgage banker and is a former president of the Tidewater Mortgage Bankers Association. "I have one person I counseled into a trial modification, but he kept being unemployed."
She doesn't see the volume of foreclosures letting up any time soon. "I'm really thinking during the first quarter of this year we're really going to see a lot more of this," she said. "January may be another record."
Josh Brown, (757) 446-2318, josh.brown@pilotonline.com
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Bush Made Mistakes?
Dang, Pcity, Bush didn't stand up to CONGRESS? He was in office EIGHT YEARS and demanded more and more for military expansionism-which shot our deficit through the roof. Need proof? Just look at the USD futures around 2001 to now. Obama is doing what all change-of-helm theatre puppets do: They keep playing the same hand, but in a "plausibly deniable" way.Anyone that blames Bush or Obama for the condition of our nation is a fool. The REAL blame lies with CONGRESS, whom, according to Law can pass any damn thing they want and reverse any damn thing the pres. doesn't. Did they really help America with their help to the Wall Street Warriors and the FED owners? Btw, anybody know who they are? No, just like they won't tell you where your money went-you'll never know.Bush did TARP to bail out the banks? I was not aware AIG/Goldman Sachs were banks. It was NOT the mere passage of $800 Billion that FOX and other worthless media centers reported -it was the thousand pages of LAWS,passed-that gave authority to the treasury without consulting congress, forevermore.
Forclosures
Funny how people just want to blame Bush for everything. Bush did Tarp to bail out the banks. Which worked and the banks paid the money back plus a couple of extra Billion. Obama owns the Stimulus package, said it would have unemployment at 8%, it didn't. Obama even took tarp money and bailed out GM, Chrysler, fannie and freddie(which cause the real estate bubble). Gave ownership in GM to the unions and Freddie and Fannie are getting million dollar bonus this year. Now Obama is going to take over health care. Bush made mistakes. The big one was not standing up to Congress snd stopping the massive spending. America as a whole is in deep financial trouble and heading for some serious hardships in the future. Some States and even local municipalities are starting to fail. The time for blaming Bush should be over and people need to figure out how we're going to get out of this mess.
It's going to get tougher
The Obama admin just bought off the unions to secure their future votes. The union insurance plans, you know the ones that most of us can't afford are going to be exempt from taxes untill 2018 and after that dental and eye care will still be exempt. Now just take a wild guess about who is going to make up the difference, yep you're right it's the rest of us. Just some more sharing of the wealth, the problem with that and the question you have to ask yourself is how much wealth do you have,enough to pay for a union members insurance? You would think buying off some congressmen and senators would be enough but no without batting an eye Obama does this to us. Aren't most of us working people too.
What's wrong with this country is corrupt unions, corrupt lawyers and corrupt politicians.
What an absurd statement.
Why are you jealous of workers who have organized and through their organization formed a voice and a station at their respective places of employment.
Their unity has permitted them the opportunity to negotiate fairer wages and in some instances health care benefits.
But thank you for bringing to attention the fact that organized workers, generally have better health insurances plans. Why is that? Its because of collective bargaining and reaching an agreement with the company for just compensation for the services which the men and women provide the company. It is an exchange. It is fair trade.
So, why should those who have bettered themselves and pulled themselves up by the bootstraps through organization for the common good of all the employees be punished by taxing their decent health benefits?
Sounds like a bunch of sour grapes. Maybe you should organize a union at your workplace. Of course good luck with that. The laws and the government will not be kind to you and your paper right to join a union.
Where's the monies? If they
Where's the monies?
If they didn't have the money then why should they have the money now? With all the money taht was poured into this debacle, we could have bought most of these foreclosures outright.
I say let the speculators in now. if they can salvage any remnants let them. Let's get these bad dabts off the books and get on with it.
ONE MORE THING
I do believe it was President Bush who started the stimulus package right before he left office - convenient to forget that right.
Lame Duck parting shot
Bush was in his final year as a lame duck president, after losing political control of the House and Senate when the stimulus bill was submitted. In an attempt for one last shot at a "positive" legacy, he bowed to the liberal/socialist wind, and many conservative senators and congressman up for re-election showed their cowardice in not standing up to fiscal irresponsibility.
You are absolutely right.
President Bush was a Socialist masquerading as a conservative Republican. His fiscal policies were irresponsible and reckless.
Obama is a Socialist surrounded by a Marxist administration. His fiscal policies are irresponsible and reckless.
True Conservatives should have stood up to Bush and demanded he cease and desist, like they're now doing to Obama. I fault them for not having done that. But regardless of why, I'm glad they're finally awake and taking a stand to protect the PRINCIPALS that made this county great; THe very same PRINCIPALS that Bush ignored and Obama openly despises.
Stop with the comparisons. They both suck as Presidents. Using one's faults to justify the other's is getting quite old.
THE REPUBLICATION PARTY STARTED THIS
How easy it is for all you Obama bashers to forget that the Republican party left us in this mess. The recession started THREE years ago - Obama has only been in office for ONE. The current administration got left with a situation so bad that there was no way to dig out of it in 1 year. But, oh yea, lets give this country back to the Republicans since this recession isn't quite deep enough to cover your noses yet.
Not really...
Need to go back further....Every analyst agrees that the main problem started with lowering government loan standards by Fannie Mae et al under Bill Clinton.