Housing Council in the Democrat & Chronicle | The Housing Council

While an issue in the city, property tax foreclosures are not as prevalent in the suburbs as bank foreclosures, according to The Housing Council.

Tax foreclosures result when an owner does not pay the property tax. Bank foreclosures occur when owners do not make mortgage?payments.

Tax foreclosures are rare in the county, said Scott Adair, chief financial?officer in the Monroe County Department of Finance.

The county has not foreclosed on a property due to tax delinquency since 2007, Adair said, adding that the county places liens for unpaid taxes.?While the number of liens has increased, the tax collection rate is at more than 97 percent between 2007 and 2011.

Bank foreclosures over unpaid mortgages occur more frequently because the lender typically repossesses the home before the homeowner faces action over unpaid taxes. While a homeowner may be behind on both the mortgage and property taxes, the lender takes over tax payments as a property moves into foreclosure to protect its investment.

When it comes to bank foreclosures, what is often classified as a city problem is spreading to middle-class suburbs, according to research by The Housing Council.

?Everyone thinks it?s only in the city. It?s not,? said Anne Peterson, executive director?of The Housing Council. ?Foreclosure has a very far-reaching effect.?

As the economy has weakened and families have faced unemployment, bank foreclosure filings across the county have outpaced city filings, according to The Housing Council study. Although the filings were virtually equal in 2006, (1,288 in Rochester and 1,286 in the county), that changed in subsequent years.

In 2007: 1,223 city vs. 1,360 county.

In 2008: 1,081 city vs. 1,213 county.

In 2009: 1,101 city vs. 1,292 county.

In 2010: 802 city vs. 1,068 county.

The 2011 numbers are incomplete at 242 for the city and 150 for the county because foreclosure filings are being held up by pending lawsuits over robo-signing cases, in which segments of the mortgage industry have been accused of forging signatures on foreclosure documents or not verifying information, Peterson explained.

The Housing Council study shows that a reduction in property owners? income is the No. 1 cause of bank foreclosure filings. Most homeowners seeking help from The Housing Council have been in their homes eight to nine years, signaling the difficulties are not the result of predatory lending or balloon loans, Peterson said.

Since the Rochester market has been relatively free of speculative buying, property values have held steady, unlike other areas of the country where housing values have depreciated rapidly since the economy tanked in 2008.

Often people in financial trouble seek help when it is too late, said Bob Kalb, partner in real estate and banking at Forsyth, Howe, O?Dwyer, Kalb and Murphy in Rochester.

?The worst thing you can do is delay it,? Kalb said. He suggests calling the lender to work?out a plan, since many banks would prefer to prevent the foreclosure.

http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012303030045

Source: http://www.thehousingcouncil.org/news/2012/03/housing-council-in-the-democrat-chronicle/

pipa keystone xl sopa bill sopa and pipa piracy sopa marg helgenberger