The Horror Story Of Foreclosures

February 12th, 2008 | Tags: Foreclosure

The worsening foreclosure crisis is no figment of imagination but written in red ink in the records of Lorain County court records. The horror story is getting worse by the day comment court clerk Nabakowski. The seductive sub-prime mortgages are like the proverbial red apple the witch brought to Snow White – red outside but rotten inside that causes death and decay. These have been peddled to those with weak credit ratings.

But there is more to the story as figures belie. In 2007 there were 2,243 foreclosures in Lorain County. Of these more than half the tempting apples of sub-prime mortgages were made to those who had good credit records. These came from upscale areas like Avon Lake, Avon and Amherst. The largest number of foreclosures is listed from Lorain. Elyria comes next.

For more than a decade foreclosures have been rising. In 1995 there were less than 500 listings in the entire county. But lately the score has gone up four times and it is getting worse. During the last three years the speed has picked up drastically.

One group that is paying dearly for no fault of theirs are the tenants. They have been paying their rent regularly but since the lenders have no agreement with them they have no legs to stand on and have to move out. Hardly any time is given. Moreover the landlords disappear with their security deposits leaving them in the lurch.

Another group badly affected is the pets who are abandoned with the house. Some of them die out of starvation and neglect. There are not enough shelters to take care of them and many have to be put down – for no fault of theirs but human failure.

Many bought houses for the sake of investment and speculation during the time of the ballooning. These borrowers are just walking away without a backward glance.

The collapse of the sub-prime game has snow balled into a deep crisis that is affecting all sections of society. Empty houses are attracting criminals who are stripping the houses of everything from wiring to plumbing. This is resulting in pulling down the prices of neighbouring houses. Construction industry is in the doldrums. Tax and revenue are affected. The people are in a ugly mood causing politicians to sit up and make this an issue. Meanwhile Wall Street sneezes while other places across the globe catch a cold.