Meeting Of USA Mayors To Tackle Rising Foreclosures

Posted in Foreclosures, November 22nd, 2007 |

Detroit is one of the worst affected foreclosure crisis ridden areas. It is hosting a meeting of mayors in the following week to discuss the foreclosure issue. The National Forum on Homeownership Preservation has taken the initiative and will have on its agenda the present state of the mortgage industry, how foreclosures can be avoided and the steps to be taken to prevent foreclosed units infecting the adjoining neighbourhood with related fallouts.

The mayor of Detroit Kwame Kilpatrick is specific that no legal steps are being considered. The aim is to find a local answer to a national question. The talking will kick off from here with viable recommendations that will be presented at another meeting of Mayors in January.

The meeting of next week is private and will not include media representatives. But a report will be released. It will highlight the fall out of the foreclosure crisis on the general economy. The focus will be on cities in Arizona, California, Florida, Indiana, Michigan, Nevada and Ohio that are some of the worst affected zones. The Mayors of Louisville, Kentucky and Columbus, Ohio are also invitees to the meet. The President of the group is Douglas Palmer of Trenton, New Jersey.
The forum has invited The Center for Responsible Lending, Durham – a group of consumer advocates to attend. The Executive Vice President, Deborah Goldstein is of the strong opinion that the towns and cities cannot go on waiting for Washington to take action. Something has to be done here and now at the state level to tackle foreclosures. It is the cities that are the worst sufferers. Meanwhile foreclosures continue to rise with no signs of abatement.

The fall in real estate market has made it difficult if not impossible for house owners to find an escape route by selling their houses. With the increase of interest in the sub-prime loans the loaned amount has become more than the value of the house. California had at one time been a booming property market. Today it tops the foreclosure ranks and is reeling under it. A survey of 100 metropolises was taken. It shows Stockton in California to be the highest ranker with a ratio of one foreclosure for every 31 houses. In Detroit the ratio was 1:33.

The steps being taken include communication between lenders, borrowers and consumer groups.