Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

A Better San Diego's Breakfast Forum Talks Foreclosures

A Better San Diego, a community group put together by the San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council, held the second installment of a monthly breakfast forum focusing on community issues this morning. The topic of discussion was foreclosures, and their impact on San Diego.

Corinne Wilson of the Center on Policy Initiatives was the first of two presenters. She noted that one of every five foreclosures nationwide occur in California, and estimated that one-third of homeowners in the state are “underwater,” owing more on their mortgages than the value of their homes.

A report produced by the Center last June estimates that between 2008 and the end of 2012, the City of San Diego alone will see nearly 57,000 foreclosures. These foreclosures, selling at reduced prices, will account for over $19 billion in wealth lost by homeowners and with it $117 million in reduced property tax revenues.

“The foreclosure crisis has basically decimated the American dream,” said Wilson.

The existence of abandoned homes awaiting resale can attract a criminal element as well, Wilson says. She cites a study that found for every 1 percent increase in an area’s foreclosure rate, a 2.33 increase in neighborhood crime followed.

One measure suggested for the management of foreclosures in order to minimize the negative impact they have on neighborhoods in which they’re located is a foreclosure registry program. Under such a program, lenders would have to pay a fee and register properties in foreclosure – monies raised would then pay for city inspectors to monitor homes to ensure they’re secure and maintained in a fashion that doesn’t negatively impact the neighborhood. Such a program would also give the city authority to fine banks as much as $1,000 per day if they failed to maintain properties in a responsible manner. Chula Vista was one of the first cities in the nation to implement such a law, which has been on the books for several years.

Dave Lagstein of the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment also presented. His group has been active in assisting homeowners attempting to avoid foreclosure, sometimes participating in direct actions that have gone as far as mobilizing protesters to stop post-foreclosure evictions and force banks to re-negotiate loan modifications to keep homeowners from losing their properties.

A solution Lagstein proposes to the foreclosure problem before homes end up bank-owned is ending the practice of “dual tracking” by lenders. Under this system, which is used by all major lenders today, a bank’s foreclosure department may act to repossess a home even while a borrower is attempting to negotiate a loan modification or short sale with another department, resulting in many foreclosure avoidance requests not being processed before the bank acts to foreclose.

It was further proposed that lenders consider principal reduction as a major portion of any reform efforts, which is indeed part of the $25 billion multistate settlement reached involving five major lenders recently.

“There are two million homeowners in California who are underwater, by a total of $200 billion. If all those homes were reset, if those homeowners were able to get a principal reduction on their loans, they would save $810 a month . . . that would bring $20 billion back into the economy,” Lagstein offered.

Lagstein also noted that when San Francisco County Assessor Phil Ting reviewed a sample of 300 foreclosure actions, errors were found somewhere in the process a full 80 percent of the time. He called for a similar audit to be completed in San Diego by Assessor Ernest Dronenburg.

Elected officials who had representatives present included state Assemblymember Marty Block, Congressman Bob Filner, and state Senator Juan Vargas.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

Conservatives cry, “Turnabout is fair gay!”

Will Three See Eight’s Fate?
Next Article

Two poems by Marvin Bell

“To Dorothy” and “The Self and the Mulberry”

A Better San Diego, a community group put together by the San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council, held the second installment of a monthly breakfast forum focusing on community issues this morning. The topic of discussion was foreclosures, and their impact on San Diego.

Corinne Wilson of the Center on Policy Initiatives was the first of two presenters. She noted that one of every five foreclosures nationwide occur in California, and estimated that one-third of homeowners in the state are “underwater,” owing more on their mortgages than the value of their homes.

A report produced by the Center last June estimates that between 2008 and the end of 2012, the City of San Diego alone will see nearly 57,000 foreclosures. These foreclosures, selling at reduced prices, will account for over $19 billion in wealth lost by homeowners and with it $117 million in reduced property tax revenues.

“The foreclosure crisis has basically decimated the American dream,” said Wilson.

The existence of abandoned homes awaiting resale can attract a criminal element as well, Wilson says. She cites a study that found for every 1 percent increase in an area’s foreclosure rate, a 2.33 increase in neighborhood crime followed.

One measure suggested for the management of foreclosures in order to minimize the negative impact they have on neighborhoods in which they’re located is a foreclosure registry program. Under such a program, lenders would have to pay a fee and register properties in foreclosure – monies raised would then pay for city inspectors to monitor homes to ensure they’re secure and maintained in a fashion that doesn’t negatively impact the neighborhood. Such a program would also give the city authority to fine banks as much as $1,000 per day if they failed to maintain properties in a responsible manner. Chula Vista was one of the first cities in the nation to implement such a law, which has been on the books for several years.

Dave Lagstein of the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment also presented. His group has been active in assisting homeowners attempting to avoid foreclosure, sometimes participating in direct actions that have gone as far as mobilizing protesters to stop post-foreclosure evictions and force banks to re-negotiate loan modifications to keep homeowners from losing their properties.

A solution Lagstein proposes to the foreclosure problem before homes end up bank-owned is ending the practice of “dual tracking” by lenders. Under this system, which is used by all major lenders today, a bank’s foreclosure department may act to repossess a home even while a borrower is attempting to negotiate a loan modification or short sale with another department, resulting in many foreclosure avoidance requests not being processed before the bank acts to foreclose.

It was further proposed that lenders consider principal reduction as a major portion of any reform efforts, which is indeed part of the $25 billion multistate settlement reached involving five major lenders recently.

“There are two million homeowners in California who are underwater, by a total of $200 billion. If all those homes were reset, if those homeowners were able to get a principal reduction on their loans, they would save $810 a month . . . that would bring $20 billion back into the economy,” Lagstein offered.

Lagstein also noted that when San Francisco County Assessor Phil Ting reviewed a sample of 300 foreclosure actions, errors were found somewhere in the process a full 80 percent of the time. He called for a similar audit to be completed in San Diego by Assessor Ernest Dronenburg.

Elected officials who had representatives present included state Assemblymember Marty Block, Congressman Bob Filner, and state Senator Juan Vargas.

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Fewer foreclosure filings

Next Article

Bauder recommends to go short in San Diego real estate

Sophisticated buyers can get 30 to 40 percent off
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader