Events Calendar
In This Section
Browns find another way to lose
After 30 years at the helm of Akron Children's, Considine still looks to future
New version of Mozilla Thunderbird landing soon
SCORE offers wide variety of workshops
About Matsos Greek Dressing & Marinade
All-in-one units jolt desktop computer sales
Most Read Stories
Police accuse bank robbery suspect of gobbling up note (with dashcam video)
Victim of beating in Kent last week is declared dead at Akron hospital
Can DNA tests free ex-Akron captain?
Dad accused of forcing son into field, killing him
Man found dead in North Akron home is identified
Does it work? Test team returns to try out new products advertised on television
Blogs:
Pets:
Cat-loving chihuahua suckles seven abandoned kittens
The Heldenfiles:
Sunday Notebook
Patrick McManamon:
Browns sick after sick loss in Detroit
Akron Zips:
Zips advance to Sweet Sixteen
Tribe Matters:
Seven players added to Tribe’s 40-man roster
Cleveland Browns:
Post-game defensive quotes
Kent State Sports:
Kent State defeats Rochester College, 63-44
Cleveland Cavaliers:
Gameblog: Cavs vs. Philadelphia 76ers
Buckeye Blogging:
OSU – Michigan college football rivals meet in Baghdad
Varsity Letters:
Four area football teams play tonight
All Da King's Men:
The Sunday Sanity Challenge
Blog of Mass Destruction:
Will Health Care Reform Pass?
Akron Law Café:
Health Care Financing Reform: (69) The Brookings Institute Study on "Bending the Curve" – Four General Strategies
See Jane Style:
Vintage Chic
Car Chase:
TIME TO GET YOUR COLLECTOR CARS WINTERIZED
Let's Talk Real Estate:
Faye Dunaway to be Evicted?
Ohio Travels with Betty:
George is looking for a Thanksgiving buffet in Akron.
Sound Check:
Steely Dan Plays "The Royal Scam" at E.J. Thomas Hall
HRLite House:
Personal Rant – You are All Wrong About Jobs, or the Lack of Jobs, Being the Reason People Do Not Live in NEO
Akron Gamer:
Nintendo's Mario endures even as games come and go
Fewer filed in first six months of year by banks, lenders. Seven-year low set in June with 167
By Rick Armon
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Thursday, Aug 21, 2008
The number of foreclosure lawsuits is dropping slightly in Summit County, bucking national and statewide trends.
Banks and mortgage lenders filed 2,088 foreclosure suits here during the first six months of the year compared with 2,268 during the same period last year.
The lawsuits — a legal step in the process that leads to people losing their homes — hit a seven-year low in June with 167.
If the trend continues, the county will experience a decline for the second consecutive year.
Officials are at a loss to explain the drop, especially when other communities are continuing to see increases.
''In some areas, it could be that we've worked through the problem and a lot of the properties that were susceptible to foreclosure have already gone into foreclosure,'' said Daren Blomquist, spokesman for RealtyTrac, a California company that monitors default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions.
Other theories include banks and lenders working more with homeowners because of negative media coverage, and
homeowners reaching out for help sooner through new programs like the state's ''Save the Dream'' campaign.
Any dip could be temporary, because some banks and lenders have been so overwhelmed with foreclosure actions that they are backed up in filing, Blomquist added.
Cynthia Sich, director of the Summit County office of consumer affairs, attributed the local drop to outreach efforts.
''My fingers are crossed that we'll see another slight drop this year,'' she said.
Officials also couldn't explain why suits dropped so low in June. Every lawsuit doesn't result in an actual foreclosure.
RealtyTrac has identified the Akron metropolitan area, which includes Portage County, as the 22nd worst region in the U.S. for foreclosures.
The company reported this month that foreclosure filings grew nationwide by more than 50 percent in July compared with the same month a year ago.
But while the news was dim nationwide, the number of foreclosure filings in Summit dipped from 369 in July 2007 to 340 last month. Meanwhile, the filings remained nearly the same in Portage, going from 64 to 65.
But Portage also experienced a higher number of foreclosure suits in the first six months of the year compared with the previous year, jumping from 368 to 443.
Stark County saw a similar increase, climbing from 1,383 to 1,584.
''It's certainly not slowing down,'' said Nancy Reinbold, the Stark clerk of courts.
''I'm very jealous,'' she added, referring to the trend in Summit. ''I wish I could say the same about Stark.''
In Summit, Sich and her staff are reading individual lawsuits to study why people are having difficulty paying their mortgages. More foreclosure suits are being filed today for economic reasons — job loss and divorce, for example — than predatory lending, she said.
The study, when completed, will help the county determine how to best help homeowners, she said.
Meanwhile, Common Pleas Court started a mediation program earlier this year to try to avert some foreclosures. Homeowners who respond to a lawsuit are referred to the program, which brings together the lender and borrower for a settlement conference.
So far, 108 such meetings have taken place. Sixteen of those cases have either been settled or a tentative settlement has been reached. Twenty-nine have been referred back to the court. And most of the remainder are still being worked on.
The problem is the majority of homeowners never respond to notices from the lender or even to a lawsuit.
''I assume some of that is that they are just overwhelmed,'' Administrative Judge Elinore Marsh Stormer said.
She said it's important for the court system to try to resolve the dispute so people aren't kicked out of their homes.
''A neighborhood with three empty homes becomes an economic-development problem,'' she said.
Rick Armon can be reached at 330-996-3569 or rarmon@thebeaconjournal.com.
The number of foreclosure lawsuits is dropping slightly in Summit County, bucking national and statewide trends.
Get the full article here.
Comments
Click here to post your comments
