The Foreclosure Report

Lenders Leave Foreclosed Homes In Limbo

The Beacon Journal has this very interesting discovery. "Neighbors and regulators often can't figure out who is responsible for neglected, foreclosed homes because mortgage lenders routinely do not file paperwork documenting their ownership for months or even years, records show."

"The problem has intensified with the recent explosion in foreclosures. Ohio leads the nation in foreclosures, with about 59,000 notices filed last year."

"A review by The Columbus Dispatch of property deeds showed that lenders often don't file deeds on a house they have foreclosed on until they have found another buyer. The delay means city code-enforcement officers can't figure out who to serve with notices and fines for violations."

"Richard Manuel said he often found evidence that rundown houses were owned by lenders who left them in the previous owner's name. 'Then when we'd call the bank, they'd claim they didn't own the house,' Manuel said. 'They would deny even having known of the house. Then we'd find later they sold the house.'"

"A duplex on the city's west side, which was foreclosed on in 2001 and repossessed in 2004, is still in the name of the previous owner. 'Nothing's happened,' said Tamara Maynard, a Columbus code-enforcement analyst, 'still vacant, still an eyesore and still a problem for the neighborhood.'"

"In the two months following the Aug. 26 sheriff's auction of foreclosed properties in Franklin County, only 11 of the 76 deeds transferring ownership to mortgage lenders had been filed with the county recorder's office. Of the unrecorded transfers, 17 properties had pending or recent code violations."

posted by Ben Jones @ 3:01 PM