Tom Schauwecker, an assessor in Boone County for almost 20 years, and Greg Harmon, a long-time property agent, both stated that this year is the first time they have encountered a surprisingly large number of foreclosures.
According to Schauwecker, his personnel compiled a complete foreclosure property list in Boone County. It is probable that around 300 homes will be filed as foreclosed in 2008.
About 27,000 foreclosure properties in Missouri were recorded in the Secretary of State office. Boone County Recorder listed 253 repossessed houses in October and 231 last year. Over 10 foreclosure homes have been filed during the 1st week of November.
This year’s foreclosure has been surprising for Schauwecker. The banks do not lend that often anymore and property owners are obviously facing the risk of losing their homes.
Gaslight Properties broker and developer Harmon stated that there was indeed a very big change in the house market. In addition, he is currently having a hard time updating his website due to continuous foreclosure filings.
Banks in Missouri are making arrangements with the borrowers who are having difficulty paying their mortgage obligations. Marketing Director Mary Wilkerson of Boone County National Bank stated that having to go to the courthouse is not a very good experience that is why they are doing their best to avoid that kind of situation.
Eric McClure, Commissioner of Missouri Bank, said that it is necessary for the borrowers and lenders to always communicate in order to avoid this unfortunate situation.
Loan adjustments in some cases are not considered, so what banks do is accept Deed-in-lieu wherein a borrower transfers all interests in Property Law to the lender to fulfil a default loan and avoid the process of foreclosure.
Columbia’s top 5 banks reported a huge increase in the number of properties they took back from default borrowers in September this year.
Schauwecker thinks and hopes that the housing market and economy will eventually recover.
Print This Post
Email This Post
HUD Fair Housing Equal Opportunity
