April foreclosures rise 32 percent

[dkf]

MIAMI (AP) -- The number of U.S. households faced with losing their homes to foreclosure jumped 32 percent in April compared with the same month last year, with Nevada, Florida and California showing the highest rates, according to data released Wednesday.

More than 342,000 households received at least one foreclosure-related notice in April, RealtyTrac Inc. said. That means one in every 374 U.S. housing units received a foreclosure filing last month, the highest monthly rate since the Irvine, Calif.-based foreclosure listing firm began its report in January 2005.

April was the second straight month with more than 300,000 households receiving a foreclosure filing, as the number of borrowers with mortgage troubles failed to abate.

The April number, however, was less than one percent above that posted in March, when more than 340,000 properties were affected. The March data was up 17 percent from February and 46 percent from a year earlier.

"We've never seen two consecutive months like this," said Rick Sharga, RealtyTrac's senior vice president for marketing. "It's the volume that's surprising."

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/RealtyTrac-April-foreclosures-apf-15225282.html?sec=topStories&pos=main&asset=&ccode=

[clear eye]

1. To those of you on the brink--

some credit unions are offering refinancing to those elegible for membership, and City Life/Vida Urbana offers concrete steps to prevent finalization of foreclosures or prevent eviction in the case of foreclosure. (It may be possible to convince the bank to allow you to rent your foreclosed home.) There is hope.

[briscott]

3. grants

thereare also government grants everywhere. I can see how someone under this much financial pressure could get so depressed, but sometimes u have to use the system

[clear eye]

4. Please add links

for the benefit of the desperate. I've only heard about programs that negotiate with the banks on behalf of people in arrears to replace the troubled owner's current mortgage with financing based on its current (reduced) value (after all, that's what the banks will get if they foreclose and resell the property). Please list any "grant" programs you know about.

[briscott]

2. real estate

this country has been bought and sold a hundred times, including all of its overrepresented real estate. most properties in the midwest that are foreclosed on were built prior to 1900 and havent had many improvements since then. The banks or cities who own them wont even fork out enough money to keep the water running so the pipes dont burst, or even clean up the shit left from the crackheads who were flopping their since foreclosure.

[Mr. Ected]

5. They Were Also Down 11% From Last Month

Still WAY too many, of course.

[TheFarseer]

6. I've been thinking

I know alot of people buying houses to get the $8000 and housing seems to be stabilizing despite the above story. What happens when no one will pay you $8K to buy a house anymore? It's going to hit the fan later this year, I'm afraid.

[Mr. Ected]

7. Wait Til the Rates Jump Too

Interest rates in the low fives are keeping the mortgage market afloat. When they creep up into the sixes, the industry will be suffocating once again.