Browsing the internet I came across a story from Market Watch that stated essentially levels of foreclosures have returned to "near pre-crisis levels". Below is the link to the story, which includes a graph that creates a new statistic "completed foreclosures per mortgage". I believe this graph is deceptive.
First, the writer picks 2005 and declares that this is the pre-crisis numbers. This is sort of like saying gas prices have gone down, as long as no one remembers when gas was less than $2.00/ gallon. Second, the writer uses "completed foreclosures" to gauge the decline in Homeowners Facing Foreclosure. Who decides when a foreclosure is completed. Is it when the decree of foreclosure is filed, when the Sheriff Sale takes place, when the Sale is confirmed. If the writer chooses confirmed Sheriff Sales, then "completed foreclosures" becomes a relatively small number.
I went to the Ohio Supreme Court website and pulled the statistical reports for the Courts of Ohio. If you characterize 2005, as the writer did, "Pre-Crisis" the number of foreclosures that were filed in the State of Ohio was 63,996. The graph demonstrates that the height of the crisis was 2010. In Ohio, there were 85,483 new foreclosure complaints filed. In 2009, there were 89,053 new foreclosure complaints filed. The statistical reports for 2013 and 2014 are not available from the Ohio Supreme Court at this time. The graph has the numbers in 2012 demonstrating a significant decline and close to the "pre-crisis" 2005 numbers. In 2012, there were 70,469 new foreclosure filings. The writer of the Market Watch article could say in Ohio we are approaching the "Pre-crisis" numbers of 2005; or there has been a decline from the height of the crisis. However, what the numbers really show is that there were 70,469 homeowners who were far enough behind in their mortgage payments that the Bank resorted to foreclosure. This does not include those still struggling to keep current, or those who are behind but only 1 or 2 months behind. If you look at the new foreclosures filed in 1999, 31,229 foreclosure complaints were filed. I believe that 1999 would be a better year to consider as "pre-crisis" but the available reports on-line do not go back any further. In 2012, the number of new foreclosure cases was still nearly double the number of foreclosures in 1999.
My analysis of the numbers really provides no better gauge than the Market Watch article. Especially, if you have stumbled upon this article in search for assistance in defending a foreclosure. The purpose of my writing is to again explain to the Homeowner Facing Foreclosure that the Banks and National media are working against you to make you feel alone and hopeless. The Market Watch article is intended to keep the Homeowner Facing Foreclosure from seeking help, from fighting. Things are better for everyone but you. Even the recent stories of Homeowners prevailing against their lenders are clouded with bad news. The story was not about victories, but about secret non-disclosure agreements and how homeowners can be harmed in the future. The stories should be simple, those who fight usually get help. Those who fight usually end up with a reasonable monthly mortgage payment. Do not be misguided by the National Media, you are winning the battle and Banks are starting to offer reasonable deals for those who are willing to fight. http://blogs.marketwatch.com/capitolreport/2014/05/29/five-states-make-up-nearly-half-of-u-s-foreclosures-corelogic/
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