Ohio Housing Expert Paints Bleak Foreclosure Picture

Jim McCarthy, president and chief executive of the Miami Valley Fair Housing Center in Ohio, was quoted in the Dayton Daily News as saying that foreclosures would have to drop by 40 percent or more before he believed progress in the crisis was being made. Ohio counties are having mixed experience with foreclosures. Some counties are jumping ahead of last year's numbers while numbers in other counties are staying flat. Even without increasing, foreclosures are "crippling to our efforts to address the problem and to the economic impact on the community as a whole," says McCarthy. He expects resets of adjustable-rate mortgages in March to keep foreclosures high throughout 2008, and points to problems that foreclosures cause for would-be borrowers-when private mortgage insurers increase their rates, for example, refinancing becomes unaffordable for many homeowners. The foreclosure crisis is putting pressure on housing counselors all over the country, including Ohio where the Home Ownership Center of Greater Dayton experienced a 275 percent jump in its foreclosure prevention services last year. That means 468 homes were affected in 2007, compared to 170 homes in 2006. Beth Deutscher, the executive director of Home Ownership Center of Greater Dayton, said, "The numbers to us are just staggering when you think about how many people are still struggling and how many people need assistance."

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Expert: Foreclosures must drop by 40 percent to ease crisis
01/18/2008 | Dayton Daily News (Ohio)