Foreclosures down in Montgomery County, increasing in suburbs

The front door of a neglected and vacant property at 2661 Galewood Drive in Kettering is posted with city notices warning the owner to clean up the property. The red placard is a condemned-property notice.

Larry C. Price The front door of a neglected and vacant property at 2661 Galewood Drive in Kettering is posted with city notices warning the owner to clean up the property. The red placard is a condemned-property notice.

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By Ken McCall, Staff Writer Updated 11:02 AM Monday, August 17, 2009

It may not be light at the end of the tunnel, but for the first time in four years the number of foreclosure filings and foreclosed homes sold at sheriff’s auctions in Montgomery County appears to be significantly declining.

The filings and the number of homes sold at auctions were down during the first six months of this year, a Dayton Daily News analysis has found. If the trend continues, foreclosed homes sold at sheriff’s auctions in the county will drop by 20 percent this year. Foreclosure court filings would show a much smaller 5 percent annual decrease, the analysis found.

However, the number of foreclosured homes sold at auctions is increasing in the suburbs. Of the almost 3,800 homes auctioned during 2008 and the first half of 2009, almost 2,200 — or 58 percent — were in Dayton’s suburbs and not in the city proper, a Dayton Daily News analysis has found.

Local experts say the numbers, even with an overall decline, are no cause for rejoicing.

“Five thousand foreclosure filings is a horrific number for our county,” said Beth Deutscher, executive director of the HomeOwnership Center of Greater Dayton.

Montgomery County Clerk of Courts Greg Brush projects filings will pick up in the second half of the year, to crack 5,000. He said it’s possible the declines have come because of all the work done by agencies like Deutscher’s. Or it could be a result of all the publicity about the mortgage meltdown.

Jon Meade, vice president of loss mitigation for Fifth Third Bank in Cincinnati, said the number of customers contacting them about troubled loans increased fourfold in February and March, when the Obama administration was touting its stimulus loan modification program.

“Customers are calling us to say, ‘Hey, am I eligible? And if I’m not, can you help me?’ ” Meade said.

He said the program requires lenders to put qualified applicants into a three-month trial program: “So some of this thing could be customers being put in the trial period.”

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