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Sunday, March 23, 2008 9:16:45 PM
Riverside CA: Hemet targets lenders for care of foreclosed homes
note: who's responsibility are these foreclosed homes? Many hard pressed states and municipalities have decided it's the lender...
...and let the lawsuits begin!
_____________________________________________________
http://www.pe.com/localnews/rivcounty/stories/PE_News_Local_H_hforeclose16.41ced48.html
08:36 AM PDT on Sunday, March 16, 2008
By HERBERT ATIENZA
The Press-Enterprise
Video: Hemet house in foreclosure limbo needs sprucing up
HEMET - In a well-kept neighborhood with nicely manicured lawns east of Park Hill, a corner home stands out with weeds about 3 feet tall growing in the front yard.
On closer inspection, part of a fence has been bashed in, there's a large hole in the ground where the swimming pool was, and the entire backyard is overrun by weeds.
It's a sign of the times, said Hemet senior code enforcement officer Kathie White, who was at the home this week to conduct a second inspection. Neighbors already have complained to the city about the condition of the property.
"Somebody wanted to get in real bad," said White, noting some damage to a section of the back door, which, for the moment, remained secure. She said the home, with its overgrown weeds and broken fence, was an "open invitation" to transients and people of shady character.
Hemet was among the Inland cities that basked in the housing bubble not too long ago, and now it is among those reeling since that bubble burst.
Worried about the declining state of many homes now going through foreclosure, the city, by targeting banks and mortgage companies, hopes to prevent any future blight.
Steve Fetbrandt / The Press-Enterprise
Chauncey Cummings and Katherine White, code enforcement officers, review the violations they discovered during an inspection of a house in east Hemet that has been vacant for nearly seven months. A bank has foreclosed on the property.
A proposed ordinance would place responsibility for the homes' upkeep and maintenance with the lending institutions that own them. It was approved on first reading by the Hemet City Council this week and could receive final approval at the next council meeting.
"It's a new challenge for cities," said Mark Trabing, Hemet's housing and code enforcement manager.
He has seen the negative effects of foreclosed homes on neighborhoods.
Cities such as Murrieta and Chula Vista have already adopted ordinances similar to the one being considered in Hemet, he said.
Hemet's proposed ordinance takes the best features of those adopted by other cities and places full responsibility on the lenders, Trabing said.
In addition, he said, it includes a requirement that a sign be posted on each property that identifies the manager and provides a 24-hour contact number to report problems and concerns. Another provision would require the owner to inspect the abandoned or vacant property at least monthly, when told by the city to do so, to ensure its upkeep.
"It will actually force the mortgage companies to be more responsive," White said. "Some of them are not even in the phone book."
Stephen Leidner, vice president of the California Mortgage Association, said he could not comment on Hemet's proposed ordinance, which he has not seen. He said, however, that lending institutions support efforts to maintain foreclosed homes.
"I think the city's goal is a noble one. That is to say, if there are many empty foreclosed homes, it's blight on the neighborhood," he said.
Leidner also said that unkempt property makes it harder to sell.
Trabing said owners who do not comply in a timely way could be subject to another Hemet ordinance, which will levy fines for code enforcement violations. He said the city has considered contracting with cleanup crews to do the work for the unresponsive landowners and then placing liens on their properties to ensure payment for the work.
White said the blight caused by defaulted homes is becoming a real problem as the housing market continues to decline.
Before the market dropped, she said, the department got calls about such homes once or twice a month. Now, she said, it's two or three a week.
"We're starting to see more and more of these homes, and the unfortunate part is when the bank takes over, the water is turned off, the electricity is turned off, and when you have the rain, suddenly you have 3 feet of vegetation in the backyard," she said.
The problem is compounded, she added, when pools are left undrained, debris and trash are left in the front yard and drug addicts or homeless people set up camp in the homes.
Reach Herbert Atienza at 951-763-3464 or hatienza@PE.com
BURSTing BUBBLE
Here is a breakdown of the numbers of homes going the foreclosure process -- beginning with the preforeclosure step of issuing a notice of default -- in Hemet's three ZIP codes:
92543
Preforeclosure: 582
Up for auction: 147
Bank-owned: 542
92544
Preforeclosure: 562
Up for auction: 133
Bank-owned: 525
92545
Preforeclosure: 806
Up for auction: 195
Bank-owned: 720
Source: realtytrac.com
http://www.pe.com/localnews/rivcounty/stories/PE_News_Local_H_hforeclose16.41ced48.html
note: who's responsibility are these foreclosed homes? Many hard pressed states and municipalities have decided it's the lender...
...and let the lawsuits begin!
_____________________________________________________
http://www.pe.com/localnews/rivcounty/stories/PE_News_Local_H_hforeclose16.41ced48.html
08:36 AM PDT on Sunday, March 16, 2008
By HERBERT ATIENZA
The Press-Enterprise
Video: Hemet house in foreclosure limbo needs sprucing up
HEMET - In a well-kept neighborhood with nicely manicured lawns east of Park Hill, a corner home stands out with weeds about 3 feet tall growing in the front yard.
On closer inspection, part of a fence has been bashed in, there's a large hole in the ground where the swimming pool was, and the entire backyard is overrun by weeds.
It's a sign of the times, said Hemet senior code enforcement officer Kathie White, who was at the home this week to conduct a second inspection. Neighbors already have complained to the city about the condition of the property.
"Somebody wanted to get in real bad," said White, noting some damage to a section of the back door, which, for the moment, remained secure. She said the home, with its overgrown weeds and broken fence, was an "open invitation" to transients and people of shady character.
Hemet was among the Inland cities that basked in the housing bubble not too long ago, and now it is among those reeling since that bubble burst.
Worried about the declining state of many homes now going through foreclosure, the city, by targeting banks and mortgage companies, hopes to prevent any future blight.
Steve Fetbrandt / The Press-Enterprise
Chauncey Cummings and Katherine White, code enforcement officers, review the violations they discovered during an inspection of a house in east Hemet that has been vacant for nearly seven months. A bank has foreclosed on the property.
A proposed ordinance would place responsibility for the homes' upkeep and maintenance with the lending institutions that own them. It was approved on first reading by the Hemet City Council this week and could receive final approval at the next council meeting.
"It's a new challenge for cities," said Mark Trabing, Hemet's housing and code enforcement manager.
He has seen the negative effects of foreclosed homes on neighborhoods.
Cities such as Murrieta and Chula Vista have already adopted ordinances similar to the one being considered in Hemet, he said.
Hemet's proposed ordinance takes the best features of those adopted by other cities and places full responsibility on the lenders, Trabing said.
In addition, he said, it includes a requirement that a sign be posted on each property that identifies the manager and provides a 24-hour contact number to report problems and concerns. Another provision would require the owner to inspect the abandoned or vacant property at least monthly, when told by the city to do so, to ensure its upkeep.
"It will actually force the mortgage companies to be more responsive," White said. "Some of them are not even in the phone book."
Stephen Leidner, vice president of the California Mortgage Association, said he could not comment on Hemet's proposed ordinance, which he has not seen. He said, however, that lending institutions support efforts to maintain foreclosed homes.
"I think the city's goal is a noble one. That is to say, if there are many empty foreclosed homes, it's blight on the neighborhood," he said.
Leidner also said that unkempt property makes it harder to sell.
Trabing said owners who do not comply in a timely way could be subject to another Hemet ordinance, which will levy fines for code enforcement violations. He said the city has considered contracting with cleanup crews to do the work for the unresponsive landowners and then placing liens on their properties to ensure payment for the work.
White said the blight caused by defaulted homes is becoming a real problem as the housing market continues to decline.
Before the market dropped, she said, the department got calls about such homes once or twice a month. Now, she said, it's two or three a week.
"We're starting to see more and more of these homes, and the unfortunate part is when the bank takes over, the water is turned off, the electricity is turned off, and when you have the rain, suddenly you have 3 feet of vegetation in the backyard," she said.
The problem is compounded, she added, when pools are left undrained, debris and trash are left in the front yard and drug addicts or homeless people set up camp in the homes.
Reach Herbert Atienza at 951-763-3464 or hatienza@PE.com
BURSTing BUBBLE
Here is a breakdown of the numbers of homes going the foreclosure process -- beginning with the preforeclosure step of issuing a notice of default -- in Hemet's three ZIP codes:
92543
Preforeclosure: 582
Up for auction: 147
Bank-owned: 542
92544
Preforeclosure: 562
Up for auction: 133
Bank-owned: 525
92545
Preforeclosure: 806
Up for auction: 195
Bank-owned: 720
Source: realtytrac.com
http://www.pe.com/localnews/rivcounty/stories/PE_News_Local_H_hforeclose16.41ced48.html
_______________________________________________________
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