Foreclosure crisis heats up in Maricopa County
Reported by: Christopher Sign

Last Update: 10/02 9:28 pm

Drive down virtually any Valley neighborhood and chances are you'll see for sale signs and forgotten homes.

According to www.netvaluecentral.com the number of foreclosures in Maricopa County could double in the next 120 days.

Lloyd Lane, who manages the website, says 350 foreclosures were filed on Wednesday alone and Maricopa County is currently averaging 300 to 500 foreclosure listings per day.

Lane says the Friday's typically see the highest number of foreclosures than any day of the week.

"All the houses are for sale in this neighborhood, everybody is leaving and there are a lot of abandoned homes," said Araceli Elias who lives near 67th Avenue and Thomas Road.

The number of foreclosures in the county will increase according to Lane who says there are currently 20,812 bank owned homes in Maricopa County with an additional 26,000 facing foreclosure.

Elias lives next door to a bank owned home and says the abandoned homes are attractive to criminals.

"The neighborhood is going down cause there are a lot of houses that are unoccupied and people come in and steal copper and stuff like that," said Elias.

For those facing foreclosure, help is available.

Several government agencies offer assistance and free advice, such as the City of Phoenix.

Phoenix recently launched a new website aimed at answering some of the biggest questions regarding the housing crisis.

Homeowners, potential buyers and even neighbors can go to www.phoenix.gov/nsd/whatsnew.html to find information.

Other agencies, like the Arizona Attorney General's office, www.azag.gov/consumer/foreclosure have dedicated a portion of its site to offer free foreclosure counseling.

Resident can also go to www.fha.gov for credit and foreclosure rescue program information.

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