Metro Atlanta foreclosures rise 15 percent in June
Foreclosure notices in metro Atlanta increased 15 percent in June compared to May, but there are two silver linings in the numbers released today.
The 11,016 notices in June — still very high — represent a 12 percent decline from March, which was the last time the calendar provided an extra week to prepare foreclosure ads for publication, Equity Depot data reveals.
Also, the notices in June were down 7.6 percent from a year ago, according to Alpharetta-based Equity Depot.
It “certainly appears we’ve hit a plateau,” Barry Bramlett, president of Equity Depot, said in an e-mail to the AJC. But the “question remains how long at this [high] level.”
A total of 61,164 notices were published during the first 6 months of 2010 — up 1.4 percent from the last six months of 2009, which was a record year.
The foreclosure notices published this month in the 13-county metro area are for auctions on the courthouse steps set for next month.
Gwinnett led the metro area in June with 2,301 notices, followed by Fulton with 2,145. DeKalb was third (1,634), followed by Cobb (1,300) and Clayton (924).
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68 comments Add your comment
TnGelding
June 14th, 2010
5:22 am
What a calamity. Where is Bill Gates when you need him? Yeah, I know, he has bigger fish to fry. My heart goes out to those suffering through this disaster. My pocketbook as well, but we’re just about tapped out. There was a better way, but it’s just about too late now. The lawyers should be enjoying banner years tho. The rich get richer. It’s the American way! And after TARP it’s kind of disgusting.
'Say on pay' shareholder proposals try to take root | The Biz Beat
June 14th, 2010
6:00 am
[...] Metro Atlanta foreclosures rose 15 percent in June [...]
Grumpy
June 14th, 2010
6:03 am
“suffering through this disaster” = dealing with the consequences of buying a home that was too large for your wallet.
Iconoclast
June 14th, 2010
6:38 am
Enter your comments here
Iconoclast
June 14th, 2010
6:40 am
When inside job hits theaters this fall, it may be over and done for a few more of our bankers and bureaucrats: http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/05/18/at-cannes-naming-the-perpetrators-of-an-inside-job/
A CONSERVATIVE
June 14th, 2010
6:44 am
IT WAS A BIG DEAL FOR THE OBAMA-ATLANTA-URNAL for every adult in Atlanta to own a house…..THANK YOU AJC….THANK YOU AJC..
Paul
June 14th, 2010
6:46 am
Hate it for the families of irresponsible adults that buy more than they can afford and then cry about it later and want the government to bail them out. I am absolutely disgusted by lazy, sorry people getting lower interest rates and reduction in principal when they buy more than they can afford. Situations change… maybe get an extra job to make up for lost income…just stay out of my wallet. Everybody can not have a BMW, Mercedes and a house…..even if it is leased and mortgaged three times over. Everybody can not be rich…doesn’t work like that. Keep the government out of the lending process and this crap would not have happened. I have had it. Lazy lazy lazy lazy. You can cry about it all you want, but until you admit you made a poor decision, accept it, and correct it, I will not pity you fools. Lazy fools.
Derivatives, unemployment, forclosures
June 14th, 2010
6:47 am
Some people foolishly bought more house than they could afford, but that’s peanuts when compared to the devestation wrought by the highly leveraged derivative trading that was associated with the securitization of these bundled assets.
No one forced the mortgage companies to make bad loans. The appraisers, real estate agents, loan officers were all ready to make a buck off of the latest craze of these crappy mortgages. Remember these instruments start off with a teaser rate and then KABOOM! the rate adjusts to a level that the mortgage company knew was out of reach for the borrower to pay. The mortgage company fooled themselves into believing that home prices would keep rising and thus these junk mortgages could be refinanced. What a scam.
Paul
June 14th, 2010
6:57 am
Buyer Beware…blame everyone but yourself….I don’t care what kind of mortgage it is…nothing is gauranteed in life. You thought you could refinance…If you don’t pay the lease payment on your car with the fancy rims your credit suffers. These are choices you make….Take responisbility!! own it!! Fix it for your family!!! Just stop crying and being a victim. Enough is enough.
one of those evil lawyers
June 14th, 2010
6:59 am
“The lawyers should be enjoying banner years tho”
well quess what, we went through 7 years of college,work 60+ hours a week, and loose over 50% of what we make to taxes. Stop complaining you jealous idiot.
Peggy
June 14th, 2010
7:24 am
Yes people bought more home than they could afford. Yes, they were foolish in buying interest only negatvie amortization loans. Yes the government was complicit in the whole process. On one side it was allowing important constituencies to buy homes and on the other it was profiting from higher property tax collections.
But the big wall street banks bear great responsiblity for the problem too. They were driving poorer and poorer quality loans and had to know the increasing risks that were being run. The indiviudals involved only cared about their bonus for the year. It was shameful.
There is more than enough guilt to go around.
paul
June 14th, 2010
7:32 am
Blame the banks, blame the government…but the blame rests on the buyer. The guilt goes to the person who bought more than they could afford. period. Interest only, 3 year arm, 5 year arm, who cares…If you do not understand your loan, you should not have signed all that paperwork. As far as the lawyers go….who cares…lots of people work 60+ hours per week and went to college for 7 years. That does not entitle you to anything. Blame goes to the buyer….lazy lazy lazy.
Tim
June 14th, 2010
7:50 am
In the past 18 months, I’ve bought 3 homes for a grand total of $101K. I’ve had no government programs help me or banks loan me money. The only stupid thing I’ve done was get a low fixed rate and put down 40% on my personal home purchase 7 years ago. There’s no government program to help me but plenty to help my neighbors with their ARM loans and underwater houses.
the wise one
June 14th, 2010
7:51 am
Hi Paul you must be one of those lazy ones have time to criticize everyone else take the log out of your eye before you try and take the splinter out of your Brothers eye. i will simply say all our at fault the ones who thought they could get more home than they knew they could afford, Also the ones that were so greedy they bet you would fail and you did bottom line look in the mirror before you judge another but if you have a problem with what happen then as Paul says get off your duff and support wall street reform so it will not happen again and by the way if you do not vote don’t complain vote then complain
Buzz G
June 14th, 2010
7:52 am
For 30 years liberals have been wailing about the lack of affordable housing. Well, they now have it. And those of us who have been responsible will pay for the liberals’ mess, and so will our children.
the wise one
June 14th, 2010
7:53 am
what time fails to tell you is the 3 homes he bought were in foreclosure tim if your going to say some thing tell the whole story not just part of it
paul
June 14th, 2010
7:56 am
Wise one….not lazy…just tired of all the excuses….Paul says get off you duff and get to work!! That is the only way.
the wise one
June 14th, 2010
7:56 am
Buzz G you must be a tea party member got news for ya buzz g it was the greedy right who made this mess so if you are going to speak get your story straight tell the whole truth cause every one already knows and you are just not credible
the wise one
June 14th, 2010
7:59 am
guys this was fun but gotta go to work yes i blessed with a job and am thankful i am neither a extreme right winger or left winger i am simply a moderate that says it should fair for all not just some
the wise one
June 14th, 2010
8:03 am
paul sadly there are alot of people who love to get of there duffs and go to work as soon as there are jobs to go to and we stop allowing American jobs to go over seas i say if you take jobs in this country away you can no longer sell you products here if you hit them where it counts and make it cost more that they will save jobs will stay here sadly that’s the only they understand in greedy company’s is the bottom line plus it will give more mom pops a chance to grow if they know they can get a fair shake
BaggerHater
June 14th, 2010
8:06 am
Let’s see, unlike some of the um, articulate conservatives have posted here, I don’t have a leased car with fancy rims, I bought a nice new home that I could afford in 2007 and now my house has lost almost half of its value. What did my builder do? He sold off the remaining lots to a lower end builder and left the development. Who do I blame? My greeder builder who, rather than selling homes a bit lower (and taking a pay cut against his own salary), insisted on not lowering prices on his inventory.
Brad
June 14th, 2010
8:08 am
We bought a home that we could afford but we are seriously considering walking away from it. The foreclosures in my neighborhood combined the the jacked up market has turned my investment into a money pit. For the many families like mine who saved, bought a home that they could afford and make their mortgage obligation each month are the once that got screwed the most! At this point it sucks but I probably will cut my loses and bolt. It’s stictly a business decision. I can deal with the credit hit considering the market probably won’t rebound until after at least 7 years anyway.
Gen Neyland
June 14th, 2010
8:17 am
Comments/questions from a country boy : It’s not every day a rise in foreclosure percentages represents a downswing over the long haul. I’ve heard the rumors about fuzzy math. Is this an example..? The odd part is Some will find goverment assisted relief, Others won’t. Forget the across the board policies of a day gone by. Next we’ll be told that paying taxes on imputed company benefits is only fair to those without like benefits because they don’t have the opportunity to pay taxes on the same benefits. Therefore in order to acquire a balance to humankind that only goverment can create, it shall be viewed as patriotic to pay taxes on certain perks of employment…Wait, didn’t Joe Biden already use the phrase, ‘Patriotic and taxes’ in the same sentence..? I’ll now turn it back over to the experts down in the city…
The Economy
June 14th, 2010
8:19 am
Sorry to break up the blame game party here but I got News for you all, WE HAVENT HIT BOTTOM YET! Please continue your rants now. Thank you.
Chase Bank Sucks
June 14th, 2010
8:37 am
Paul, everything is not as clear cut as you see it. The world in which we live in has changed drastically, since the time I bought my house 4 years ago. I was a home builder and house flipper making over $250k per year, doing everything right, creating numerous jobs, funding my 401k, paying tons in taxes, investing in property and helping to gentrify some neighborhoods. Then the bubble burst, due to the banks who turned mortgages into exotic stocks that they promoted, then shorted destroying the whole industry and almost taking down our country.
Now, I am working 2 jobs, making a third of what I used to and I owe $250,000 more than what I can get for my house and I am getting $900 month less than my mortgage payment on my rental property (that i can’t sell). So, Chase bank, one of the key contributors to the problems, can either lower my interest rate so that I can afford to keep paying them or they can foreclose on my house and lose at least $250,000 when they sell my house, what should they do? I am far from lazy and there are many others just like me in Atlanta. Making a business decision in not being lazy, Paul. Things are not always black and white as they seem to be in your small mind.
Buzz G
June 14th, 2010
8:42 am
You are correct. We have not hit bottom yet. That’s because we have not cleaned house and thrown out the trash. We continue to prop up rotten eggs like Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Chrysler and GM. Obama and the Dems like to pick winners and losers. This should be the role of the marketplace, but Obama, who spent much of his life as a community organizer, has not the foggiest understanding of economics. This economy will not get better until we throw out the leftists from Washington. I hold my breath every day that they do not dig this national debt hole too deep before November. After November, we should be able to slow them down, if not stop them.
Bruce 53
June 14th, 2010
8:47 am
Does anybody here think that the loss of 7 million jobs may be a factor !? The number one cause
of bankruptcy in this country is medical costs ! I worked at a Home Depot in Deklab. Most of the
customers were Immigrants form the middle east. Taking American Jobs. Thanks to the Bill Gates’s
of this country. What are Moragebrokers for ? In small banks the Mid West ( I mean Kanas, Neb
that region ) thay didn’t have this problem. Because the banker says ” I’m sorry your not qualified
for ths loan ” I’m tired of this Right Wing dogma. Well It’s all your fault you got more house that could pay for. ( yes there was some of that too )
Brad
June 14th, 2010
8:55 am
Chase Bank Sucks- Agree 100%. We have similar situations. A large percentage of the foreclosures are from responsible middle class families like our who cannot get rid of their houses via rental or sell that were shafted because of all the other foreclosures. There is no help for us because we pay on time each month. I have always coveted my credit and been responsible but I may have to get out of this “burning house”.
Not Lazy in Atlanta
June 14th, 2010
9:03 am
I for on am not a lazy person at all either. I had a nice job when I bought our house 7 years ago. Could afford the payments (didn’t get an ARM). I am a business owner whose business has been devestated by the last 24 months of this economy. I have had to let people go, scale back operations, cut every where I could to stay afloat. I didn’t even take a salary last year….all in an effort to keep the doors open. Paul, you say go get a job. I did – two of them. Still not able to make what I was making before when consumers were buying and business was good.
Many people are not lazy, just put in positions where they are underemployed, if employed at all. There just is not unlimited hours in the day.
Could I sell my house now? No as we owe more on it than it is worth, due to market conditions, foreclosures and short sales. Despite what the news people and government want you to think – the economy is not going to be what it use to be and people are not going to be getting paid near what they use to. They will have to work harder for less pay, which affects sales to small businesses, which then have to lay off or close because the sales are not there to continue to support the business, means more empty buildings and blighted communities.
The Economy
June 14th, 2010
9:13 am
Life has changed for good, the life style you once had aint comin back. Get used to it, or live in denial.
songbird
June 14th, 2010
9:45 am
Artificially low interest rates by the Fed also fueled the house flipping frenzy and drove the prices up to unsustainable levels.
Buzz G and/or Paul who blame liberals for everything. It was your precious GWB that pushed for everyone to buy a home. I get so sick of people like you, who know nothing, writing your nonsense on blogs like this.
I wish for both of you that someday you will have a catastrophic event happen to you or your family that bankrupts you. Then maybe you will shut the f— up.
Joseph Wright
June 14th, 2010
9:52 am
Brad..I thought about walking away also, but it’s not that easy as watching your credit go down the tube..The bank will mostly likely foreclose on you, sell the house at a loss and then pursue a summary judgement against you for the difference between the sale price and what you owe. Or more likely, they will sell your deliquent account to a collection agency that specializes in pursuing court judgements against people that walked away but could still pay. The state of georgia makes it pretty easy for them to come after you and unless you move to a state that prohibits wage garnishment (and there aren’t many)you will ultimately have to pay..it may take years but they are going to get their money. Believe me, I know how you feel. I bought a house at the peak also. I finally sold it at a significant loss..in fact I had to take out a home equity loan on another paid off house to make up the difference at closing..but at least I’m out. Anyway, good luck with whatever happens.
TnGelding
June 14th, 2010
9:53 am
A CONSERVATIVE
June 14th, 2010
6:44 am
Good grief! Ever heard of Mr. Duhbya’s Ownership Society? Funny how all those Carter and Clinton tweaks didn’t cause a problem until his second term. That’s when the boys on Wall Street decided to get into Mortgage Backed Securities in a big way and loan originators thought they could get away with anything under a Republican administration.
Pat21
June 14th, 2010
9:55 am
@ one of those evil lawyers – 7 years of college and you can’t even spell “lose”.
Loser.
Glenn Beck
June 14th, 2010
9:58 am
These lazy people need to get off their butts and get a job! You made a commitment to pay your mortgage.
Now, live up to your commitments!
Brad
June 14th, 2010
10:03 am
Joseph Wright- Fortunately I have been paying for PMI so should I get hit with something it will not be devasting for me.
marcg
June 14th, 2010
10:04 am
“we went through 7 years of college,work 60+ hours a week, and loose over 50% of what we make to taxes”
Loose? Is year 8 the one in which lawyers work on spelling? Reads to me as if you are NO lawyer but another working class white guy on AJC trying to make arguments for the rich because he thinks he will be rich someday himself. Haha
joe matarotz
June 14th, 2010
10:22 am
I lied when I bought my house years ago. I told my realtor that I made much less than I actually did so he wouldn’t show us too much house. I always worried that if something happened to my job I would still be able to make ends meet. Fast forward to today and I did a good thing. Even after business tanked and my pay nosedived, I am still somehow making ends meet. There is no Escalade in the driveway or flat screen in the den. Nothing in my house was financed by my home equity. As a reward, the government wants to increase my taxes for the wastrels who couln not manage their money and the dirbags who saw this as a means to beat the system. It makes me sick.
Chase Bank Sucks
June 14th, 2010
10:40 am
Brad, I have been trying to get Chase Bank to modify my loan since last September and I am still not there yet. Unfortunately, they did not begin to look at my modification until I stopped paying them. It has been the most gut wrenching horrible feeling for me and my family to come to the realization that we might have to walk away from our home unless Chase agrees to lower our interest rate so that we can afford to keep paying for our home. The worst part has been watching my credit score go from 780 to 615 in the last 90 days after 20 years of perfect payment history. It hits me harder than the average person because as an entrepreneur, I am dependent on my credit to be able to borrow money for business. The “get a job” idiots on this website don’t have a clue, they probably work for someone like me that is struggling to keep their doors open so that they can pay that idiot. I personally did everything I could to pay the mortgage and can look in the mirror with my head high.
Do your own math!
June 14th, 2010
10:43 am
It is simple math to figure out your mortgage payments with taxes and insurance, but I guess not for some people.
If you are too dumb to figure out your own mortgage payment of the house you wish to buy, you are too dumb to own it.
Thanks for choosing variable rate mortgages as well! Go back and get your GED,
RAWDOG
June 14th, 2010
10:58 am
Well I brought a house that I could afford then the job market went south (I still could afford the house). Then Good ole Gwinnett County kept going up on the taxes (go figure) its all a set up. I also love the way some folks on here think people got more house that they could afford. Bet you haven’t lost or was downsized from your job. Oh and for all you look down your nose butt wads the mortgage was a fixed rate. TO CHASE BANK SUCKS I’m with you on that they will not help you at all I’m just one payment behind trying to catch up they will not work with you until you are 3 payments behind. Sorta like we are not hiring but you can fill out and app. CRAZY CRAZY
ThankYouHAMP
June 14th, 2010
11:02 am
I may not like Obama..but I love his HAMP program.. after 1 year of struggling with a job change that resulted in lower income…I get to keep my home…(for those haters…NO equity line here, NO REFI to go to Europe, NO credit card debt, NO Car Payments, NO the house payment was not more than I could handle..it was at the time equal to 1 week of my monthly paycheck take home….NO 100% financing I put 20% down,..by the way I drive the cars till they die for good.. just simply lost my job and had to get another one that paid less)
Joseph Wright
June 14th, 2010
11:09 am
Brad..will PMI pay if you walk away voluntarily?
It's not too late
June 14th, 2010
11:10 am
I should have married a rich man like my mother told me to.
Kate
June 14th, 2010
11:20 am
Most of the foreclosures from bad loans have already happened.
A large number of the current foreclosures are now due to unemployment or underemployment. Or people who need to sell for some urgent reason (estate sale, etc.) and can’t get a price that pays off the loan, because property values have declined so dramatically. Forget bubble prices – houses in my neighborhood are selling for about what they were in the late 1990’s.
Don’t forget that the numbers also include investor owned properties and commercial properties.
Kate
June 14th, 2010
11:25 am
To those posting about PMI – please know it does nothing for the owner. If you’re thinking PMI somehow insures you personally, that’s a sadly mistaken notion.
It kicks in to protect the LENDER if they cannot totally recoup the value of a pool of loans after foreclosure sales. That’s why it is required by the lender for loans of more than 80% of the property value.
LDWJ
June 14th, 2010
11:38 am
i bought a $70,000 house in may of 2007 and my wife and i paid it off may of 2010 making a combined 60 to 70 grand a year….I’m 30, she’s 28…we probably “qualified” for a 200,000 dollar home but guess what….??? i thought about it a litte and said, lets make a good decision about our future that way if something does happen to the economy and i loose my job, i can still deliver pizzas and pay the mortgage since its not that much. Crazy concept right?
I hope this time period in our lives gives us the ability to think about our financial actions a little more in the future. We will recover, we always have, but keep a cautious eye on your wallet, the bubble will burst again in the future at some point. It may be 20 years from now, but it will happen. Will you be in the same predicament then?
Brad
June 14th, 2010
11:41 am
Joseph Wright-Probably not but they will never know that it was voluntary. It’s just breaking us. I do have a wife with cancer(mounting medical bills) and another home that I rent but subsidize the rental payment because it does not cover the mortgage so I have a case. Georgia is a recourse state but most lenders do not seek defiency judgements here unless the amount of loss is substantial. They are mostly for people with substancial assets. It’s not worth it to them to go after people like us because of the legal fees. Also they fiqure if you could not pay before how could you pay after a judgement. The PMI company could come after us as well but they face the same challenges as the lender. I have friends who are in similar situations who just walked away with no judgements and they are free of the headache. Sometimes the piece of mind is better than a credit score.
Brad
June 14th, 2010
11:42 am
Kate- I am well aware of the purpose of PMI. Having it or not does factor into whether the lender will come after you are not.
Jane
June 14th, 2010
11:52 am
I’m wondering whatever happened to affordable housing? Believe me I’m the last one to try to give these home buyers an excuse. We bought only what we could afford and had to qualiry for that. What I’m wondering is where are the starter homes? Do builders only profit from building MacMansions. Also whatever happened to qualifying for a loan? If buyers are given no-doc loans and able to qualify for 110% mortgages they can easily walk away. They have nothing invested. There are no consequences for bad decisions. We are the ones paying the consequences. This is so wrong!!!