Illinois Foreclosure Rate Remains High While Chicago Takes Aim at “Zombie” Properties

If you are a homeowner in Chicagoland who has struggled with mortgage payments, or if you live in a neighborhood that was hit hard by the foreclosure crisis, you may know that the risk of foreclosure is not entirely over in Illinois. According to a recent article in the Illinois News Network, foreclosure rates are still declining in Illinois, yet some regions of the state continue to struggle when it comes to foreclosure activity.

In response to continued problems concerning foreclosure and neighborhood blight, there are financial institutions and nonprofit groups coming together in Chicago to “revitalize housing left behind in the foreclosure crisis,” according to a recent report from U.S. News & World Report.

Illinois Foreclosure Rate Remains Among the Highest in the U.S.

Over the last several years, the total number of foreclosures in Chicago and throughout the state of Illinois has largely declined. However, Illinois still stands out from other states when it comes to high rates of foreclosure. According to the Illinois News Network article, “while many of the home foreclosures from the recession era are long gone, Illinois’ overall foreclosure rate is still one of the highest in the nation.” For example, the foreclosure rates in Peoria and Rockford have some of the highest rates of foreclosure of any city in the country.

In the first half of 2018, there were more than 23,000 homes in Illinois that were in foreclosure. As of the end of July 2018, it was ranked fourth in the nation for highest foreclosure rates. When there are still so many homes in foreclosure, there is often not a lot of demand for real estate in the area. For many parts of Illinois, this reflects continuing economic problems where people cannot afford their mortgage payments or cannot afford to think about buying a home. Given the continued high rates of foreclosure in Illinois, it is important to think about two different issues: how to lessen the number of foreclosures that are currently vacant, and how to prevent foreclosure from happening in the future.

Ending and Preventing Foreclosure in Illinois

To stop new foreclosures from happening, some consumer advocates focus on increasing employment, thereby allowing Illinois homeowners to make their mortgage payments on time with the help of a regular paycheck or to save money in order to buy a home (perhaps one that is vacant due to foreclosure). For Chicagoland residents who do want to buy a home, what are the benefits of buying a property that is currently vacant due to foreclosure?

According to U.S. News & World Report, “several Chicago neighborhoods . . . needed an intervention after the foreclosure crisis peaked around 2010.” Many homeowners vacated residential buildings and single-family houses due to foreclosure. Those properties quickly became “so-called zombie buildings [that] were left empty and in disrepair.” In order to get those properties back to a state where they would be desirable and affordable to new homeowners, Chicago not only took part in HUD’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP), but it also “created the Micro Market Recovery Program (MMRP) to jump start individual blocks that had a high rate of vacant buildings due to foreclosures.” Community nonprofit groups and the Illinois attorney general’s office, the latter largely from settlements with financial institutions, have contributed to MMRP and funding will continue through the end of 2018. Since its inception, foreclosure filings in Chicago have declined by almost half.

Seek Advice from an Oak Park Foreclosure Defense Lawyer

Do you have questions about avoiding foreclosure? An experienced Oak Park foreclosure defense attorney can help. Contact the Emerson Law Firm to learn more about how we help consumers who are struggling with mortgage payments in Chicagoland.

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Illinois Homeowners Are Avoiding Foreclosure

Foreclosure Starts Rising in Some Areas

Illinois Homeowners are Avoiding Foreclosure

Fewer Illinois homeowners are at risk of foreclosure, according to a recent article in the Illinois News Network. More homeowners in Oak Park, throughout Chicagoland, and across the state are making their monthly mortgage payments on time, and rates of foreclosure are falling. While a decline in mortgage delinquencies is certainly a good thing for Illinois residents, it is important to remember that many homeowners in the state may be struggling yet might not recognize that they are at risk of foreclosure. What should Oak Park homeowners or potential homebuyers know about foreclosure in Illinois?

Foreclosure Starts are Down While Homeowners Pay Their Mortgages on Time

As the article clarifies, a recent report from Attom Data Solutions reports that “the number of Illinois homes that are being introduced into the foreclosure process fell 10% since May of last year.” That information correlates to fewer mortgage delinquencies and more homeowners who are making their mortgage payments on time. Some areas of Illinois have seen greater declines than others.

For example, foreclosure rates declined by 23% in Peoria from May of 2017, while foreclosure start rates in Rockford dropped by about 25%. Those in Champaign-Urbana dropped by the most salient amount—about 55%. Commentators suggest that these numbers are indicators of good financial health among homeowners in Illinois. According to Daren Blomquist, the Vice President of Attom Data Solutions, “foreclosure starts are a good barometer of the immediate financial condition of homeowners in Illinois.”

Home Equity is Helping Homeowners in Financial Difficulty

Why are fewer people at risk of foreclosure in the current economic climate? For the most part, people who purchased new homes after the foreclosure crisis have seen a rise in the values of their homes. As such, there are not too many new homeowners who are underwater on their loans. And rising home values also mean that homeowners who are finding themselves in financial trouble likely will be able to sell their properties for a profit in order to pay off debts.

In other words, when home values rise, more homeowners have equity in their homes that they can rely upon in the event of a financial emergency. As Blomquist suggested, homeowners in Illinois who lose their jobs or have unexpected medical bills will “typically have the equity in their home to get out of trouble.”

Foreclosure Remains a Risk in Illinois Despite Improving Numbers

While foreclosure start rates are declining, the state of Illinois “still has one of the highest foreclosure rates in the nation.” As such, it is important for homeowners to remain vigilant when it comes to their mortgage and their financial standing. According to an article from Freddie Mac, the following are warning signs that you could be at risk of foreclosure:

• You have maxed out your credit cards;
• You are relying on your credit cards to pay for daily expenses;
• You are having trouble paying your bill on time;
• You are making the minimum payment on your credit cards;
• You are applying for new credit cards because you have maxed out your current cards; and
• You are intentionally avoiding paying certain bills.

If you need help with foreclosure defense, an experienced Oak Park foreclosure defense attorney can speak with you today about your options. Contact the Emerson Law Firm for more information.

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Foreclosure Starts Rising in Some Areas

Pushing Back Against Foreclosure in Cook County

Foreclosure Starts Rising in Some Areas

For a number of years now, the total rate of foreclosure activity across the country has been declining. Such decreases suggest that fewer Americans are facing foreclosures, and that the number of abandoned homes due to the foreclosure crisis has been dropping. However, according to a recent article in National Mortgage News, new data suggests that foreclosure starts have been on the rise in some parts of the country. Indeed, as the article states, “foreclosure starts in April increased over the previous year in 99 of 219 metro areas.”

Total Foreclosure Activity Declining, but Rate of Foreclosure Starts Could be Cause for Concern

Total foreclosure activity has dropped. The rate of foreclosure activity in April 2018 represented a 17% decrease in foreclosure activity from April 2017. Foreclosure activity is a measure that includes foreclosure starts, second notices of foreclosure, and homes becoming owned by the bank. The average rate of foreclosure activity across the country as of last month was one for every 2,089 homes or housing units. Yet major urban areas have been seeing a rise in foreclosure starts.

What is a foreclosure start? The article explains that it is “measured as the first notice the borrower received from the servicer.” In other words, a foreclosure start refers to the beginning of a foreclosure proceeding. When foreclosure starts are on the rise, it is an indication that more homeowners are having trouble making monthly mortgage payments and could risk losing their homes without foreclosure defense help.

Chicago currently ranks in third place for borrowers who are currently underwater. To be clear, Chicago has the third-highest rate of underwater homeowners in the country. The effective negative equity rate in the city is higher than 34%, and approximately 20% of homeowners in Chicagoland owe 200% or more of their home’s current value. That means more than 250,000 homes are currently underwater in the state.

Foreclosure Activity and Buying Foreclosures

In addition to rising rates of foreclosure starts in some places, the article also notes that the figures cited are averages; this means that foreclosure activity on the whole declined at varying rates across the country, and in fact increased in some parts of the U.S. Indeed, “total foreclosure activity increased compared with April 2017 in 24% of the markets tracked.” In other words, while total foreclosure activity is declining in some places, it is actually rising in others.

All foreclosure activity is not necessarily a bad thing. When foreclosures finally are completed, they no longer are impacting neighborhoods and are no longer affecting a city’s foreclosure statistics. If you are thinking about buying a home, should you invest in a foreclosure? A recent article in Forbes suggests that buying a foreclosure can be complicated. If you are thinking about investing in a foreclosure, you should always be pricing out the cost of necessary renovations and talk to other people in the neighborhood about the property and the area before you buy.

Speak with an Oak Park Foreclosure Defense Lawyer

If you have questions about foreclosures in general or need help with foreclosure defense, an experienced Oak Park foreclosure defense attorney can speak with you today. Contact the Emerson Law Firm for more information.

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Pushing Back Against Foreclosure in Cook County

Chicago Foreclosures Reach Record Low

Pushing Back Against Foreclosure in Cook County

Regardless of how the economy looks in general, any individual or family can be at risk of foreclosure after dealing with the unexpected loss of a job or an unforeseen medical emergency. Losing your job or dealing with the declining health of a loved one can mean that you are having difficulty making mortgage payments and could be at risk of losing your house. According to a recent article in Chicago Now, despite recent positive trends in the number of foreclosures in Chicagoland over the last several months, foreclosure activity in general “moved in the wrong direction in March.”

While homeowners struggle with making mortgage payments, Cook County is also making new efforts to improve neighborhoods that have been negatively affected by foreclosure. What do you need to know about the increased rate of foreclosure activity combined with new efforts to improve the real estate market?

Nationwide Foreclosures are Declining, but Not Necessarily in Chicago

Are foreclosure rates actually increasing in Chicago and throughout Cook County? According to the Chicago Now article, Attom Data Solutions just released its Foreclosure Market Report for the first quarter of 2018. In general, foreclosure rates have declined across the country by about 19% from the end of the first quarter in 2017. However, the same is not exactly true of foreclosure rates in Cook County.

The data shows that, between February and March 2018, Chicago actually saw “a significant increase” in foreclosure activity, “rising to the highest level since October.” But is this data actually a reason to despair? The report also notes that, despite the increase in the number of foreclosures, the rate at the end of the first quarter still represents a 23% decline from this same time last year.

Chicago is clearing out its backlog of foreclosures, but some new ones are happening. Fewer than 50% of current foreclosure activity in Cook County is connected to foreclosures that were initiated during the housing market crash. At once, that news is good because it means that the buildup of foreclosures is not presenting the same problem that it once did. At the same time, however, that news also means that more homes are newly entering the foreclosure process. More specifically, as the report underscores, “we are beginning to see early signs that some post-recession loan vintages are defaulting at a slightly elevated rate, a sign that some loosening of lending standards has occurred in recent years.”

Additional Strategies for Handling Foreclosure Blight

Handling the remnants of the foreclosure crisis and preventing new defaults also concerns rebuilding neighborhoods where abandoned homes once stood and increasing interest in certain areas for new building. According to a recent article in the Chicago Tribune, Cook County Land Bank—in an effort to increase home ownership and to lessen foreclosure blight—has listed nearly 3,200 vacant lots for sale that will be “available at below-market rates to individuals, developers, and organizers.”

The hope is that new building and community development will help to repair some of the neighborhood damage caused by the foreclosure crisis.

Contact an Oak Park Foreclosure Defense Attorney

If you have questions about foreclosure and Cook County neighborhoods, or if you need help preventing foreclosure, an experienced Oak Park foreclosure defense attorney can assist you. Contact the Emerson Law Firm today.

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Chicago Foreclosures Reach Record Low

What is a Judicial Foreclosure State?

Chicago Foreclosures Reach Record Low

Are you still seeing foreclosures in your neighborhood in Chicagoland? If the answer is yes, the statistics suggest that you may not be seeing many foreclosures for much longer. According to a recent article in Chicago Now, Chicago foreclosure rates have dropped to their lowest since RealtyTrac has been collecting data on foreclosures in the area, and that number likely will only get lower. What do we know about general foreclosure trends in the Chicago area as of early 2018?

Foreclosure Rates Have Dropped in Chicagoland by Approximately 75%

The article in Chicago Now cites data from Attom Data Solutions, which is the parent of RealtyTrac. According to that data, “the number of Chicago homes in the foreclosure process fell below 9000 for the first time since [the company began] tracking the data—8,983 homes to be exact.” While that number might sound high to you, it is all relative. When RealtyTrac began tracking foreclosure rates in Chicagoland, the number was above 37,000. Since 2013, the total number of foreclosures in the area has been on the decline, and experts anticipate that the trend will continue.

In addition to the total number of homes in foreclosure, RealtyTrac also reports that “Chicago’s foreclosure activity also has been showing regular declines, with all three components approaching recent lows.” What does that mean? The three components include foreclosure auctions, bank repossessions, and mortgage defaults. The most important of these to watch, according to the article, is the total number of defaults. In order to keep the foreclosure rate on a decline in the Chicago area, it is extremely important to avoid new defaults. Based on the numbers from January 2018, the rate of defaults is down more than 25% from the previous year.

Seller’s Market Also Helps Foreclosure Rates

The total rate of foreclosure nationwide has also been on a decline, with defaults showing a 10% drop from January 2017 and a decline by more than 17% in the total number of repossessions from this time a year ago. Overall, foreclosure auctions across the country are down by more than 20%. According to an article in World Property Journal, one of the reason that foreclosure rates are down and neighborhoods are being repopulated—rather than having many empty homes due to foreclosure—is that it is currently a seller’s market. In other words, desirable homes are in short supply, which means homes that get listed for sale tend to sell for higher prices and quickly.

The housing inventory is in such short supply, the article suggests, that even homes in “the top environmental hazard risk quintile” are selling at higher rates than they have in years. As Daren Blomquist, the senior vice president for ATTOM Data Solutions explained, as a result of current trends in the real estate market, “even homes in higher-risk zip codes for environmental hazards are in high demand from buyers looking for lower-priced properties and investors looking for the next up-and-coming neighborhood.” The rate of foreclosures in environmental risk areas is also lower, by and large, than the foreclosure rate generally across the country.

All this is to say that homes are selling and foreclosure rates are declining, even in areas that some of us might assume would not be as desirable. It is important to keep foreclosure rates low. If you have questions about avoiding foreclosure, an experienced Oak Park foreclosure defense attorney can help. Contact the Emerson Law Firm to learn more.

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What is a Judicial Foreclosure State?

Remedy for Illinois Homeowners Who Faced Foreclosure