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Butler County worst for 2011 foreclosures

As jobs lag, experts expect even more foreclosures in 2012.

Staff photo by Gary Stelzer A house at 5024 Dennison Drive in Fairfield displays a HUD No Trespassing sign Wednesday, Jan 11, 2012.

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By Chelsey Levingston, Staff Writer Updated 7:30 AM Thursday, January 12, 2012

Butler County had the worst foreclosure rate in Ohio in 2011, with one in every 43 homes receiving some type of foreclosure filing, according to a RealtyTrac’s annual market report released today.

RealtyTrac rated Lucas County, home to Toledo, the second worst in the state for foreclosures, affecting 1 in every 48 homes. In 2010, Butler County ranked 16th, with the same rate of 1 in every 43 homes receiving foreclosure filings, according to RealtyTrac.

The county had 3,330 foreclosure filings against properties in 2011, only three filings less than were made in 2010. That’s a flat change with no major improvement from 2010, but down from more than 4,000 filings in 2009, according to Irvine-Calif.-based website RealtyTrac, which monitors default notices, bank repossessions and scheduled auctions across the nation.

Experts said they could not point to any one reason for the county to lead in foreclosures, but some added the unemployment numbers in Hamilton and Middletown have played a big part.

Approximately 48 percent of cases received by the Butler County Sheriff’s office are in Hamilton and Middletown, said Jim Allen, a civil administrative specialist who conducts property auctions.

Hamilton and Middletown are driving foreclosure rates because the county’s two largest cities have a poor job market and more people are moving to central locations in Mason, West Chester Twp., Liberty Twp. and Monroe, said Joe Palacio, a Liberty Twp. Realtor for Real Estate Professionals who specializes in distressed properties.

Lack of job opportunities has a snowball effect, Palacio said.

Mortgage guidelines have changed and many people cannot refinance their homes because their credit scores are too low. Or if they have jobs and their credit scores qualify, their property values dropped so they owe more than their house is worth. That or mortgage interest rates have adjusted or will adjust to increase monthly loan payments, he said.

The result is foreclosures and vacant properties.

“We’re starting to see there are certain markets that are doing well and starting to stabilize,” Palacio said.

The surrounding counties saw a significant drop in foreclosure filings in 2011 from 2010, according to RealtyTrac. Foreclosure filings in 2011 totaled 5,696 in Hamilton County, 1,481 in Warren County, 4,729 in Montgomery County and 165 in Preble County, an average decline of 21.6 percent including Butler County.

“I don’t think they’re (foreclosures) getting any better,” said Daniel Picard, owner of Picard Law Firm of Monroe and a Middletown councilman, who specializes in foreclosure cases. “I think banks are regulating how many they’re filing.”

The year-over-year drops in foreclosures are not due to an improving economy but due to banks controlling how many foreclosures they process, Picard said.

The number of properties in the state hit with default notices, auctions or bank repossessions declined 27 percent to 79,422 last year.

Researchers were quick to point out that processing delays stemming from the robosigning scandal, in which some big banks admitted to processing foreclosures without verifying documents, stymied foreclosure activity across the country.

“Foreclosures were in full delay mode in 2011, resulting in a dramatic drop in foreclosure activity for the year,” said Brandon Moore, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. “There were strong signs in the second half of 2011 that lenders are finally beginning to push through some of the delayed foreclosures in select local markets. We expect that trend to continue this year, boosting foreclosure activity for 2012 higher than it was in 2011.”

Nationally, properties with foreclosure filings fell below 2 million for the first time since 2007. But the approximately 1.9 million foreclosure filings last year don’t reflect the backlog of properties stalled in foreclosure court proceedings that are likely to hit the housing market this year.

“We’re still not out of the woods yet,” said Bob Wilson, manager of Irongate Realtors Inc.

Wilson said his office continues to process a steady stream of foreclosure transactions, and there is no way to know how many distressed properties are on the verge of falling into foreclosure.

“There’s a lot in the pipeline that we haven’t seen yet,” Wilson said. “I think you’ll start to see (foreclosures) pick up in the second half of the year.”

Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2551 or clevingston@coxohio.com.

Foreclosure cases filed in Butler County

Two different sources each show different results in 2011 than 2010:

RealtyTrac Inc. is an Irvine-Calif.-based foreclosure listing website that monitors default notices, bank repossessions and scheduled auctions. It says a total 3,330 foreclosure filings were made against properties in Butler County in 2011, only three filings less than were made in 2010.

Butler County Sheriff’s Office receives foreclosure cases from the county clerk’s office to appraise properties for sale. It processed 2,785 foreclosures in 2011, an increase compared with 2,177 foreclosures in 2010. Of the 2011 cases processed by the sheriff’s office, 730 were properties in Hamilton and 600 in Middletown

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