Overall, foreclosure filings dropped more than 21 percent in Butler County over 2009 to 3,333 filings; they are up more than 10 percent in Warren County, to 1,809 filings.
In December alone, foreclosure filings were made against 209 properties in Butler County, compared with 422 properties during November, a decrease of 50.47 percent, according to RealtyTrac. Last month in Warren County, foreclosure filings were made against 222 properties, compared with 181 in November, an increase of 22.65 percent.
Complicating an analysis of the numbers are all the factors that go into the foreclosure process.
Allegations surfaced at the end of September that employees of several large national banks signed but didn’t read foreclosure documents that may have contained errors. This raised questions about how lenders have handled the documents, leading Bank of America Corp., for example, to halt foreclosures in all 50 states.
Doug Garver, executive director of the Ohio Housing Finance Agency, said other factors include the local economy and socioeconomic factors causing financial stress, such as divorce or medial issues.
Ohio has experienced 14 record years of foreclosure filings, Garver said. There were a total 10,523 foreclosure filings made in Ohio last year, an increase of 6.44 percent from 2009, per RealtyTrac’s report.
“Generally when we look across the state as a whole, it has been and continues to be a challenge, one there has been a coordinated effort to address,” he said.
The effort he is referring to includes the initiative Restoring Stability, launched Sept. 27 by several state organizations, including the finance agency and Ohio Department of Development. Ohio Housing Finance Agency received a total $570 million last year from the U.S. Department of the Treasury Hardest-Hit Funds that funded the initiative, Garver said. Under Restore Stability, four programs were started to help homeowners pay their mortgages: Partial mortgage payment assistance; rescue payment assistance; modification assistance with principal reduction; and transitional assistance.
Garver said more than 21,400 people have registered online, at savethedream.ohio.gov, for the programs and over 50 percent of those people say loss of income is a driving factor for them to seek assistance.
“It really is jobs, jobs, jobs. People are not going to buy a house and they’re not going to qualify if they don’t have a job.”
He also said people won’t look for a house if they’re concerned about losing their job.
“I think generally you’ll see some improvement — but it’s a long process.”
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