The housing market is hurting from foreclosures in suburban and rural Geauga, Lake and eastern Cuyahoga counties, but not as overwhelmingly as in urban and inner-city areas like Cleveland.
Geauga County officials who must cope with foreclosures, mortgage failures and sheriff's sales think any such lost home is one too many.
Still, for Clerk of Courts Denise Kaminski and Sheriff Dan McClelland, such actions reflect only a fraction of the county's 39,259 residential parcels.
"Last year, it was 202 houses at the sheriff's sale, and this year, it's 188 so far. So we're running pretty much roughly the same as last year," said Sheriff's Office spokesman Lt. John Hiscox.
That trend also is being witnessed in Lake and Cuyahoga counties, where year-to-date foreclosure figures stack up much like those recorded for 2006:
n Of Lake County's 94,951 residential parcels, only 835, or 0.9 percent, have wound up at Monday sheriff's sales so far this year.
Lake County had 742 sheriff's sales in 2005 and 881 in 2006.
Of the 835 so far this year, 25 are in Mentor, which is more than twice as large as any other city in Lake County.
The next-highest number - 24 - are in the Painesville area. Of those, 14 are in the city of Painesville, and others are in adjacent Concord, Leroy and Painesville townships, or in Grand River Village.
n Cuyahoga County has recorded 10,000-plus foreclosures so far this year. About 5,300 of those were in Cleveland and 3,800 in its inner suburbs, including Euclid.
The Sheriff's Office said such sales reached 7,461 in 2005 and 10,216 in 2006.
Of Cuyahoga's 457,000 residential parcels, Cleveland accounts for 132,271 such parcels; and Euclid, 17,150.
'It's really sad'
In Geauga County, after legal actions are filed because of mortgage failures, the court filings are processed by Kaminski's and McClelland's offices.
The reasons for foreclosures in Geauga County are similar to those throughout the United States.
"A lot of this is due to predatory lending," Kaminski said. "These people were literally afforded more loans than they could afford. That's had a lot to do with it. It's really sad.
"We created monsters who wanted only what they want. Unfortunately, the banks were going too far."
County Auditor Tracy Jemison, who is county government's fiscal watchdog, also isn't happy.
"In 2002, 2003, 2004 and some of 2005, when the housing market was really booming, people were put into a house that they really couldn't afford," he said.
"Lending institutions were coming up with loans that were easy to make. The housing market stalled, and now, people are stuck with homes and loans they can't afford."
Seeking solutions
Nationally, there are $10.6 trillion in such mortgage loans outstanding.
In the U.S. House of Representatives, the Democratic majority introduced a bill to allow mortgage lawsuits involving any deceptive and improper practices, the Associated Press reported.
H.R. 3915 would require any mortgage lender to verify that the borrower has a "reasonable ability to repay" the loan based on documented income, credit history and debt level, said the bill's sponsor, U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass.
The bill is supported by Reps. Steven C. LaTourette,
R-Bainbridge Township, and Stephanie Tubbs Jones,
D-Cleveland.
LaTourette is pushing for two amendments to help provide consumer education and prevent mortgage fraud. Jones said she is pleased the bill includes proposals she has been making for eight years.
Since 2005, about 2 million people got subprime loans at low initial payment rates, which increased sharply when introductory periods expired, Frank said, according to wire news reports.
Subprime loans are loans given to the most risky borrowers, who would otherwise not be able to get approved because of problems with their credit.
The federal banking system lacks oversight for most such lenders and brokers, Frank said.
Federal legislation also calls for tougher regulations of mortgage banks to prevent brokers from arranging loans that a borrower "has little chance of repaying."
Closer to home last week, Lake County officials, bankers and fair housing advocates gathered in Painesville for the inaugural meeting of the Lake County Foreclosure Prevention Task Force.
The group wants to hammer out strategies and future goals to help prevent foreclosures on homes and properties.
The task force also looks to coordinate the efforts of public and private entities that can assist.
"We have a foreclosure crisis in Lake County, and it's not just predatory lending," said Patricia A. Kidd, executive director of the Fair Housing Resource Center based in Painesville. "It has broadened its reach and has hit the professionals. Maybe they've lost their jobs or bought more than they could afford."
At the state level, Gov. Ted Strickland has asked Ohio's top subprime mortgage lenders to sign a compact to pledge to provide staff and money to help at-risk borrowers avoid foreclosure. Many have refused to do so.
The lenders would work with the Ohio Department of Commerce, Ohio Department of Development and Ohio Foreclosure Prevention Task Force.
Ohio's delinquencies and foreclosures could increase by 150,000 to 200,000 subprime loans worth $14 billion "to be reset at higher rates through 2008," the governor's proposal stated.
Lenders' lawsuits
In the Cleveland-based Northern District of U.S. District Court, two federal judges last week halted mortgage lenders' lawsuits until the complainants prove they own the properties, according to court documents.
In a case involving 14 properties, Judge Christopher A. Boyko said the lender must file papers proving it is "the holder and owner of the note and mortgage of the properties."
Boyko said plaintiff Deutsche Bank provided none of the required proofs of ownership as "the real party in interest."
In a separate case involving 32 properties and six banks as plaintiffs, Federal Judge Kathleen M. O'Malley issued the same order involving numerous plaintiffs and defendants.
Tuesday: A look at why 2007 won't prove to be a banner year for new-home construction in the area.
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