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32sunrkt
07-18-2007, 05:24 AM
There will be blood flowing down the streets of Havi by Mid winter and into the following 10-15 months. That trail will stretch to the IE and OC...
By DAVID BELL / HAVASU NEWS
Tuesday, July 17, 2007 10:13 PM MST
A Colorado news agency is reporting Mohave County has the highest rate of mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures per capita in the nation.
The Northern Colorado Business Report said pre-foreclosures in Mohave County are at 33.8 per 1,000 people, ahead of Fort Hood, Texas, at 30.4 filings per 1,000, and Elko, Nev., at 29.5 per 1,000.
The news agency took the numbers from the Web site Foreclosures.com. The Web site's officials refused to comment on how the data was obtained.
Another Web site, Realtytrac.com, reports that Arizona has the nation's fourth-highest number of foreclosures per household. Nevada leads the nation at one foreclosure for every 183 households, followed by Colorado, California, Georgia and Arizona at one foreclosure for every 489 households.
Arizona also had one of the most significant upswings in foreclosures, increasing 118.45 percent from the same time last year.
Officials with Horizon Community Bank and Mohave State Bank said they aren't seeing a significant jump in local delinquencies, as both lenders concentrate on A-Paper loans - borrowers with the best credit.
“The subprime market is where most of these foreclosures are originating,” said Hal Christiansen, Horizon Community Bank senior vice president and chief credit officer. “I think the mortgage industry has done a disservice to the country. Good credit people will wind up paying for this.”
Subprime loans, also known as C-Paper loans, were offered to borrowers with less-than-good credit who don't qualify for A-Paper, or prime, loans. Subprime loans tend to have higher rates and fees, or they can be adjustable-rate loans with low beginning interest rates that escalate over a few years, making the payment too much for the borrower.
With the increase of foreclosures nationwide, Gary Ardesson, vice president and mortgage department manager for Mohave State Bank, said those riskier loan options seem to be dwindling.
“We are seeing a shrinking pool of subprime borrowers and those (subprime) programs are shrinking,” Ardesson said.
The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) and the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) issued a joint letter to lenders Friday, setting guidelines for the sale of subprime and other nontraditional loans. The two major loan investors said the guidelines will apply to all lenders, even those not covered by state regulators.
Some lenders in the Phoenix area are looking favorably at short sales for delinquent borrowers. A short sale is when the property is sold for its appraised value or market value, generally less than what is owed. Though the lender takes a loss, it can be less than the cost of foreclosure.
In June, the federal financial regulatory agencies called on lenders to work with subprime borrowers who are experiencing “payment shock.”
“The agencies encouraged institutions to work constructively with residential borrowers who are financially unable or reasonably expected to be unable to meet their contractual payment obligations on their home loans. Workout arrangements that are consistent with safe and sound lending practices are generally in the long-term best interest of both the financial institution and the borrower,” the June 29 statement said.
Christiansen agreed.
“When people are buying a house, all they think about is that house,” Christiansen said. “We're a bank and we have a service to fill by making good loans.”

32sunrkt
07-18-2007, 05:26 AM
Set you self up to SELL SHORT ON RETAIL FOR X-Mas and make some dough. ....This will definitly be a slow Christmas.