Newer Subdivisions Mauled By Foreclosures

Posted on September 17, 2009
Filed Under Foreclosure Homes | 1 Comment

Newer subdivisions are now being mauled by foreclosures. Hamilton County had not suffered from unemployment that has rocked the rest of Indiana but the number of foreclosures in the wealthiest county has sharply spiked from 971 in 2007 to about 1,400 listings this year.

In October there were 200 foreclosure listings in Hamilton County in contrast to 1,890 in Marion County. Troy Halsell of Noblesville Housing Authority estimated that the foreclosure rate is around 1:478. In Marion County it is 1:220. He said that it is difficult to find out the exact number of defaults. He added, “The numbers we’re seeing aren’t going to stop; they’re almost certainly going to increase.”

The foreclosures are by and large concentrated in the regions that have been developed during the last decade or earlier in Noblsville, Fishers, Carmel and the like. Most of the borrowers here have taken on more loans than they could manage. Perhaps many were victims of predatory lending egged on by builders and mortgage agents.

Stephanie Fairfield is the staff attorney of Neighborhood Christian Legal Clinic. Explaining the situation she said, “They might be undereducated in terms of home buying and maybe overzealous in wanting a particular house and an accommodating lender or broker wants to get them in there whether it’s in the buyer’s best interest or not. Although loan brokers are obligated to put the buyer in the best loan they can find, oftentimes brokers are putting them into loans where (the broker) can make the most money off of it.”

Cheryl Garner handles the foreclosure section in the office of the Sheriff of Hamilton County. She says that there are multiple reasons specific to each mortgage borrower that has led to this foreclosure crisis. She gave one such instance and says that suppose both persons are working and thinking they can afford the mortgage. But one might lose a job or fall ill and then the situation gets tricky. One falls into a pit from which it is difficult to get out.

The story of Royce Morris is one such case. She lost her job at a hospital and now can no longer be current on her mortgage payment for her house in Noblesville. Even if a refinancing deal is offered she doubts if she can manage that without a job. Royce bemoaned that she did not know what she was going to do and just praying, “some doors will open.”

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