Thread: Home loan delinquency rate shows increase

http://www.usatoday.com


Home loan delinquency rate shows increase
By Noelle Knox and Barbara Hansen, USA TODAY
More Americans fell behind on their mortgage payments at the end of last year as they struggled in the face of hurricane damage, rising interest rates, higher gas prices and holiday credit card bills, the Mortgage Bankers Association said Thursday.

The percentage of Americans who were delinquent on their home loans rose to 4.7% in the fourth quarter, the highest level since mid-2003. Late mortgage payments soared in the hurricane-stricken states of Louisiana and Mississippi. (Chart: Rates in all 50 states.)

And homes going into foreclosure reached alarming levels in a handful of Midwest states — Ohio, Indiana and Michigan — that were once the backbone of industrial America but have seen an exodus of manufacturing jobs.

About one in five mortgages in Louisiana and Mississippi was overdue. But "the results in those two states simply magnify the trend in the national data," said Doug Duncan, chief economist for the MBA.

in the last quarter and once so far this year. Duncan expects the Fed to raise them again in two weeks and maybe once more this year. That could mean nasty surprises for the 25% of borrowers with adjustable mortgages.

When someone loses a home through foreclosure, the consequences extend far beyond the homeowner.

"It's a domino effect," said Lorie Batdorf of Neighborhood Housing Services in Hamilton, Ohio, a non-profit group that helps low-income buyers. She notes that foreclosures often lead to abandoned homes, vandalism, increased police visits and a lower tax base. "The neighbors still there see a decrease in property values, so it affects everybody."

Ohio had the highest number of loans in foreclosure for the second year in a row. In addition to layoffs at auto and steel factories, residents have fallen victim to predatory lenders. About 16% of mortgages made in Ohio last year were predatory loans, and nearly half the foreclosures involved such loans, said Batdorf, who serves on a state foreclosure task force. A predatory loan typically has unfavorable terms and high fees, which are poorly disclosed or understood.

Kathy Grubb, who fell behind on her mortgage in October, calls the process "devastating."

"I don't eat, I don't sleep, I can't think, I can't talk to anybody," says Grubb, 44.

Because of her husband's poor credit, they became entangled in a loan they couldn't afford in New Miami, Ohio, in 1998. Grubb, who works at an auto parts store, is $5,700 delinquent and could lose her home on March 27.

The number of foreclosures is expected to rise this year. The rates of new foreclosures in Michigan, Indiana, Wisconsin and Georgia are at their highest since 1979.

"This is evidence of a structural change — an economic chain reaction," Duncan said.

the sunny picture the government keeps trying to make of the economy is BS. I think we are heading for a major depression. I hope I am wrong.

No, we are the ones that are wrong. Everything is great and we should all be happy. Put your blinders back on and watch TV for several hours and you will fell great.

Or tell those in Congress that they are fired and it is time for someone who is willing to stand up for America.

The percentage of Americans who were delinquent on their home loans rose to 4.7% in the fourth quarter, the highest level since mid-2003.

Wonder if the same is true for the "non"-Americans?

And I don't think it was any coincidence that they passed a law that people can no longer file bankruptcy to eliminate credit card debt yet they didn't do anything to stop the credit companies for offering people credit they can't afford.

How many offers for credit cards do you get in the mail every week? Some weeks my shredder works overtime. I know people who don't even have jobs that get a waste basket full of them. Worse, I know at least one person who accepts all those offers and keeps robbing Peter to pay Paul.

I find this trend toward people losing their homes very disturbing.

See, I live in a city where foreclosures are normal because of the severely depressed economy brought to us by the high percentage of illegal aliens.

At the same time, I receive foreclosure lists from Wake County and Carteret County, NC. Sometimes I just look up stuff for the heck of it. The results are startling. While there are still more foreclosures in this city than there seem to be in several NC counties combined, the number in NC is growing. I also keep my eye on the Carteret Co. News Times and the number of houses sold on the courthouse steps due to foreclosure or back taxes is depressing for such a small area.

So, yeah, keep those blinders on. Go watch CSI or Law And Order and see how the liberals think. Go look at the network news and get all that smoke blown up your rear end about how great the economy is. Go read some of the forums where people think NAFTA has done wonders for our economy. You will start to wonder if you live in the same country with these people or what they are drinking.

I hate to say it but I'm sort of glad this article came out. I'm not glad for the poor folks of Ohio who are losing their homes due to the sorry economy but I sometimes wonder if I live in the same country as the rest of the people on line.

Originally Posted by JuniusJnr

How many offers for credit cards do you get in the mail every week? Some weeks my shredder works overtime. I know people who don't even have jobs that get a waste basket full of them. Worse, I know at least one person who accepts all those offers and keeps robbing Peter to pay Paul.

I get very few since I had my name removed from their lists. There is a number you can call to get off their lists and stop the mailings. Unfortunately I don't have it handy at the moment.

I found it after doing a little Googling. It says it lasts for 2 years but I did it more than 2 years ago, and still rarely get a credit card offer anymore.

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/ale ... utalrt.htm

Unsolicited Mail, Telemarketing and Email: Where to Go To “Just Say No”
Tired of having your mailbox crammed with unsolicited mail, including pre-approved credit card applications? Fed up with getting telemarketing calls just as you’re sitting down to dinner? Fuming that your email inbox is chock-full of unsolicited advertising? The good news is that you can cut down on the number of unsolicited mailings, calls and emails you receive by learning where to go to “just say no.”

Credit Bureaus

The credit bureaus offer a toll-free number that enables you to “opt-out” of having pre-approved credit offers sent to you for two years. Call 1-888-5-OPTOUT (567-868 for more information. When you call, you’ll be asked for personal information, including your home telephone number, your name and your Social Security number. The information you provide is confidential and will be used only to process your request to opt out of receiving pre-screened offers of credit.

In addition, you can notify the three major credit bureaus that you do not want personal information about you shared for promotional purposes—an important step toward eliminating unsolicited mail. Write your own letter or use the sample letter on the back of this Alert to limit the amount of information the credit bureaus will share about you. Send your letter to each of the three major credit bureaus:

Equifax, Inc.
Options
PO Box 740123
Atlanta, GA 30374-0123

Experian
Consumer Opt-Out
701 Experian Parkway
Allen, TX 75013

TransUnion
Name Removal Option
P.O. Box 505
Woodlyn, PA 19094

Direct Marketers

Telemarketing
The Federal Government has created the National Do Not Call Registry—the free, easy way to reduce the telemarketing calls you get at home. To register, or to get information, visit www.donotcall.gov, or call 1-888-382-1222 from the phone you want to register. You will receive fewer telemarketing calls within three months of registering your number. It will stay in the registry for five years or until it is disconnected or you take it off the registry. After five years, you will be able to renew your registration.

Mail
The Direct Marketing Association’s (DMA) Mail Preference Service lets you opt out of receiving direct mail marketing from many national companies for five years. When you register with this service, your name will be put on a “delete” file and made available to direct-mail marketers. However, your registration will not stop mailings from organizations that are not registered with the DMA’s Mail Preference Service. To register with DMA, send your letter to:

Direct Marketing Association
Mail Preference Service
PO Box 643
Carmel, NY 10512

Or register online at www.the-dma.org/consumers/offmailinglist.html.

Email
The DMA also has an EMail Preference Service to help you reduce unsolicited commercial emails. To “opt-out” of receiving unsolicited commercial email, use DMA’s online form at www.dmaconsumers.org/offemaillist.html. Your online request will be effective for one year.

Department of Motor Vehicles

The Drivers Privacy Protection Act allows states to distribute personal information only to law enforcement officials, courts, government agencies, private investigators, insurance underwriters and similar businesses—but not for direct marketing and other uses.

Sample Opt-Out Letter (Send to addresses listed above.)

Date

To whom it may concern:

I request to have my name removed from your marketing lists. Here is the information you have asked me to include in my request:

FIRST, MIDDLE & LAST NAME
(List all name variations, including Jr., Sr., etc.)

______________________________

CURRENT MAILING ADDRESS

__________________________________________________ ____________

__________________________________________________ ____________

PREVIOUS MAILING ADDRESS
(Fill in your previous mailing address if you have moved in the last 6 months.)

__________________________________________________ ____________

__________________________________________________ ____________

SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER

______________________________

DATE OF BIRTH

______________________________

Thank you for your prompt handling of my request.

______________________________
Signature


If You Have a Complaint

The FTC works for the consumer to prevent fraudulent, deceptive and unfair business practices in the marketplace and to provide information to help consumers spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint or to get free information on consumer issues, visit www.ftc.gov or call toll-free, 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357); TTY: 1-866-653-4261. The FTC enters Internet, telemarketing, identity theft, and other fraud-related complaints into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to hundreds of civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad.

Yes, you can get on the do not mail lists. And you can get on do not call lists for solicitors (which I have.) But if I get these things a zillion other people are getting them, too. The point being that they send out this stuff at random and they have no idea whether or not I even have a job. All they know is that I have a name and an address. I even get offers for credit cards for people who do not nor have they ever (as far as I know) lived in this house. That means that those people gave a name and a bogus address.

How many of those people sign up for those credit cards?

And how guilty is the government for allowing credit companies to solicit people who can't pay the bill?

Still going down the hill, not to the bottom, yet