Salt Lake City (ABC 4 News) As we approach record breaking foreclosure numbers, an advocacy group, here in Utah, is trying to stop banks from repossessing so many homes.
We caught up with a homeowner who has been through the foreclosure process and eventually found help with through the advocacy organization. His name is Ryan Dorsey. "I guess I had a notice of foreclosure, I don't even know the right term, back in November." Dorsey had lost his job and his ability to pay his mortgage last year. And when he tried to work things out with the bank he says it didn't go well. "The bank it was just a nightmare."
Dorsey certainly isn't alone - in June, one out of every 263 homes in Utah was in some part of the foreclosure process. RealtyTrac Inc. estimates that Utah ranks 5th in the nation in foreclosed homes right now. And just in Salt Lake County there are nearly 1,400 homes in foreclosure.
Its numbers like those that have the members of the National Home Retention Advocacy Program asking state lawmakers to pass a law that basically forces banks to sit down for mediation with a homeowner before they foreclose. NHRAP spokesman Greg Mauer says, "When you call the bank you get people who can't make decisions, have no idea what they are talking about."
He and others who offer mediation services would certainly benefit financially from a law that requires banks to mediate each case. But he says if Utah gets a bill like the one now in place in Nevada - the real benefactors are homeowners. He says that type of law will cut down on the money and time homeowners are currently spending. "Instead of taking a year or six months it would take an hour or two look at the paper work and do the deal." And he adds, even if you don't face the prospects of foreclosure the issue is one homeowners in Utah can't ignore. "It's a community problem...Say your neighbor loses his home to foreclosure and another neighbor loses his home to foreclosure and maybe you are working hard to make your payments - its going to effect your home value."
Dorsey eventually found a new job and got help from Mauer's group - which worked with his bank on his behalf. Today, he's still in his home with a payment he can make and he's a believer - with a sense of humor - in the power of mediation. "I don't know if I am the spokesman, but the poster child, maybe."
The National Home Retention Advocacy Program wants Utah to pass a bill in the upcoming legislative session that would require banks to mediate with homeowners after they have filed a Notice of Default. A petition is now being passed around to influence our elected officials. Mauer says if that doesn't influence representatives, the facts should move them to do something.
Historically, lenders have foreclosed on 100,000 homes per year. So far this year, the number is 528,000 - nationwide. The number of homes facing foreclosure is up 8 percent compared to last year. And between January and June of this year 1.7 million people have received a foreclosure warning. According to RealtyTrac that breaks down to one out of about 80 houses in the country.
Experts predict that if the unemployment rate doesn't get better - even more homes could end up in foreclosure and that will push house values down even more. On average it takes about a year and a half for a home to be foreclosed and sold once the owner has defaulted.
http://www.realtytrac.com http://www.nhrap.com http://www.rgj.com/article/20100711/NEWS/100710026/1321/NEWS
