Perilous Times
28 October 2010 Last updated at 15:35 ET
US foreclosure crisis becomes more widespread
Vacant home for sale in Yonkers, New York Foreclosures increased across
a majority of large metropolitan areas
BBC - The foreclosure crisis in the US has spread across a wider area
of the country, according to RealtyTrac, which monitors repossession
activity.
The organisation said foreclosure notices increased across a majority
of large metropolitan areas, including Chicago and Seattle.
Previously, these cities had seen relatively low levels of activity.
Separately, Wells Fargo said it would refile documents on 55,000
foreclosures after admitting technical mistakes.
Crisis spreading
RealtyTrac's report said that California, Nevada, Florida and Arizona
remained the worst affected areas.
They accounted for 19 of the top 20 metropolitan areas with the highest
foreclosure rates between July and September.
The trend is the latest sign that the US foreclosure crisis is
worsening as homeowners - facing high unemployment, slow job growth and
uncertainty about house prices - continue to fall behind on their
mortgage payments.
Top five metropolitan foreclosures: third quarter 2010
* Las Vegas, Nevada - 32,288
* Cape Coral, Florida - 10,352
* Modesto, California - 4,825
* Stockton, California - 5,929
* Merced, California - 2,072
Source: RealtyTrac
The controversy over whether banks mishandled eviction documents was
not a factor over the July-to-September quarter monitored, said
RealtyTrac.
Earlier in the week, data from rating agency Standard and Poor's showed
that US house prices also began falling again in August, mainly in
response to the expired tax credit.
Meanwhile, the announcement from Wells Fargo that it would refile
thousands of foreclosure documents is the first admission from the bank
of possible problems in the way it repossesses homes.
In a statement released on Thursday, the bank said it had identified
"instances where a final step in its processes relating to the
execution of the foreclosure affidavits... did not strictly adhere to
the required procedures".
It added that it has no plans to halt its foreclosure process but said
the refiling might cause some delays.