Foreclosures Drop In Summit

January 8th, 2008 | Tags: Foreclosures

Summit County in Ohio State with its county seat in Akron has cause to ring in the New Year with cheer. It has been named ‘Summit’ because of it being located at the highest elevated site on the Ohio and Erie Canal but it has not reached the summit in foreclosures that are raging in the adjacent localities. Although there has been increase in foreclosures in other counties, Summit has recorded a slight fall in 2007. It is the first bit of positive news but the legal fraternity is warning that the foreclosure crisis in the locality has not subsided as yet. There are many sub-prime mortgage rates just waiting in the sidelines to come on to centre stage with the advent of the New Year. In fact it could kick off a new record.

Fred Vaughn, Deputy Director of East Akron Neighbourhood Development Corporation does not want to be a wet blanket and dampen the euphoria but the truth is that this decrease appears to be only temporary. Statistics never lie.

In Summit County there were 4,522 foreclosures in the previous year compared to 4,553 in 2006. These figures are as per reports given by relevant courts. The numbers do no include the foreclosures initiated by the County against those house owners who failed to pay property taxes.

Other neighbouring Counties of Cuyahoga, Medina, Portage and Stark showed increases in foreclosures. In Medina County the numbers jumped from 735 to 856. In Stark it went up from 2,785 to 2,812, in Portage from 725 to 766 and in Cuyahoga from 12,924 to 13,634. Wayne County figures have not come in as yet.

Court officials were surprised to note that Summit County showed a decrease in foreclosure numbers and could give no explanation for it. They apprehend that new lawsuits will outpace last year’s number of 5,000. There is a view that the fall might have been due to the publicity generated against the foreclosure menace. Attorneys are being assisted and encouraged to come forward to help the victims of predatory lending. Foreclosures are threatening not only the borrowers but also the health of the entire socio-economic structure of the nation and the locality. Abandoned houses are attracting criminal activity apart from depriving the state from taxes. Real estate prices are falling and threatening to drag down the prices of those units not directly touched by foreclosures.

Search Images:

Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.