This is my first diary on dKos. I've been here a while, but it wasn't until today that I really felt the need to vent via diary. The following story took up most of the the front page of today’s Atlanta-Journal Constitution: Homeowners no more - As rates on adjustable mortgages climb, foreclosures in Georgia jump 99 percent. Link to article
That is NOT a typo. The figure is 99%. On the first Tuesday of every month, hundreds of Georgians are stripped of their dreams, their pride, and their homes. According to RealtyTrac, via The Real Estate Bloggers, Georgia is now ranked #3 in the nation behind Colorado and Nevada for the states with the highest foreclosure rates. What this all boils down to is that in Georgia, the rate of foreclosures is 1:449. One out of every 449 households in Georgia is facing foreclosure.
To make matters worse, Georgia has a uniquely fast-track foreclosure system. A family can lose their home in as little as 37 days. 37 days from when the bank notifies you of entering into default status, they can, will, and do sell your home out from underneath you on the courthouse steps. Literally. The auctions take place on the courthouse steps.
The culprits, you say? Well, here’s the usual suspects: banks bending every guideline until they screamed to get unqualified people qualified, predatory mortgage brokers out for a quick buck, people swallowing the bait of low, low, low initial rates without considering the future carefully, and here's what RealtyTrac's own foreclosure blog had to say about it: Credit Card and Mortgage Debt Fuel Foreclosures.
There's also the biggest contibutor,of course, our economy. You know, the economy that is doing so well /snark. According to Susan Hunt, director of Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Greater Atlanta, who was interviewed for the AJC article:
I have doubled my staff, and we still haven’t met the need.
referring to the more than 1000 new referrals in October alone. Of those referrals, approximately 40% have adjustable rate mortgages.
A lot of the problem is that same stuff, different day: someone loses a job or faces a massive financial hit like a sudden major medical expenses, etc..., without the resources to cope with it. And thanks to our new bankruptcy laws, many consumers can’t even begin to get out from underneath the debt load fast enough to avoid foreclosure. Especially here in Georgia.
And almost before you know it, there you are on Foreclosure Day. As Hunt said:
By Foreclosure Day, it’s too late for Consumer Credit to help. "Someone will call and say ‘I am on the courthouse steps, and my house is next. What can I do?’", she said. "And we can’t do anything then."
It’s too late to do anything by then.
Republican leadership sure has been good for our country. They wrote the flipping laws that are now biting our people squarely in the butt. It’s bitter, bitter irony that my state just re-elected the entire slate of Republicans again a mere three weeks before this headline. Talk about chickens coming home to roost. Unfortunately, these draconian laws and their subsequent consequences are here to stay for at least the next two years. I wonder how many more people will have to lose everything in their lives before they realize what they did to themselves?
UPDATE Here's a look at the national foreclosure scene per
RealtyTrac. It ain't pretty.