Foreclosures on track to exceed '06

Year's filings hit 9,254; pace heads toward 25% jump

John Rebchook, Rocky Mountain News

Thursday, May 10, 2007

Colorado was hit by 9,254 foreclosure filings in the first quarter, putting the state on track to top last year's record foreclosures by about 25 percent.

Last year, 28,453 foreclosures were filed statewide. This year, that number could rise to about 36,000.

The Colorado Division of Housing released its inaugural foreclosure report on Wednesday.

Despite the rising number of foreclosures, the figures are far smaller than the 16,430 filings released in earlier reports by Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac.

"RealtyTrac's numbers are ridiculous and irresponsible," said Kathi Williams, director of the housing division.

She argued that RealtyTrac is counting foreclosures more than once as they move through the process.

Rick Sharga of RealtyTrac was out of the office Wednesday and didn't respond to a phone call and e-mail. In the past, however, Sharga has said the discrepancy between the state's numbers and RealtyTrac's is due to different methodologies and that both are valid.

The Division of Housing report, based on surveys of public trustee offices statewide, shows Adams County topped the list with one foreclosure for every 98 households.

"No. 1, I think the whole foreclosure situation is a sad situation," said Carol Snyder, Adams County public trustee.

Snyder applauded the Colorado General Assembly for passing several bills this year designed to combat mortgage fraud.

"This year they're starting to crack down on the unscrupulous tactics of some bad actors," she said. "There's a lot of blame to go around with unscrupulous lenders, unscrupulous real estate brokers and unscrupulous home builders. There's a lot of great people in these fields, too, but a few bad actors are causing a lot of problems."

She also is seeing a lot of fraud.

One elderly man who was in his home for 40 years thought he was refinancing his mortgage but instead signed a quit claim, making him a tenant in his own house. He didn't realize what he had done until Snyder looked up the paperwork on his transaction. She reported the incident to the district attorney's office.

Many of the homes in foreclosure have adjustable rate mortgages, and the buyers can't afford the payments once the rates adjust upward, Snyder said.

Adams County Commissioner W.R. "Skip" Fischer blamed predatory lending practices. He said, however, that he doesn't expect the foreclosures to hurt the county's tax base.

"Banks aren't selling the foreclosed homes at huge discounts like they were doing during the last time," in the late 1980s, he said.

"They're selling them pretty close to market value, so someone will eventually be paying pretty much the same taxes," he said.

The Colorado Foreclosure Hotline has received more than 14,000 calls since it was launched in October, or about 100 calls a day from people "trying to save their homes," said Zachary Urban, administrator of the hotline and director of housing counseling for Edgewater-based Brothers Redevelopment Inc.

Foreclosures

• Households in selected Colorado counties

Adams    1 in 98

Weld    1 in 124

Denver    1 in 127

Pueblo    1 in 152

El Paso    1 in 254

Mesa    1 in 505

Summit    1 in 680

La Plata    1 in 1,126

• Colorado Foreclosure Hotline: 1-877-601-HOPESource: Colorado Division Of Housing

rebchookj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5207