City Newspaper Archives - 8/2007
HOUSING: Summit focuses on foreclosures
Published by Tim Louis Macaluso on Aug 09, 2007
The homeowners who seek help early are the ones most likely to avoid foreclosure.
That was the message from the city's Foreclosure Task Force at a Foreclosure Summit today convened by Mayor Bob Duffy.
Nationally, mortgage-payment delinquencies and foreclosures have reached alarming highs, and Rochester and Monroe County have not escaped the trend.
In 2006, the number of foreclosures on city homes was 852. The number of foreclosures for suburban homes was 617.
Both numbers have inched down slightly from 2005, but are expected to increase again as foreclosures shift from the sub-prime adjustable-rate market into the prime adjustable-rate market.
But in some cases, members of the Task Force said, foreclosure can be avoided if homeowners contact agencies like the Housing Council or the Empire Justice Center before they fall behind in their payments. The agencies have a successful track record of finding lenders and negotiating new terms.
While the number of foreclosures initiated for both the county and the city are nearly the same, far more city homes actually complete the foreclosure process. Suburban homes have seen greater appreciation than city homes, which offers suburban homeowners better refinancing options.
The tragedy of foreclosure is not limited to the people who lose their home. In Rochester, foreclosures are most likely to happen to owner-occupants of single-family houses. And usually the house is resold to investors at cut rates.
Some city neighborhoods like 14621 have become dominated by investors who don't live in or near the neighborhood.
