Are Ohio’s Foreclosures Decreasing?

CENTRAL OHIO—The number of Americans who are on the verge of losing their homes has increased almost 15 percent. 

Realty Trac, a foreclosure listing service, said foreclosure filings increased more than 33 percent in June compared with the same month last year and were up nearly 5 percent over May.

Ohio had the nation’s 12th highest foreclosure rate for June, with a little more than 1 percent of households receiving a filing. Are the state’s foreclosures decreasing?

NBC 4’s Mike Bowersock reported with both sides of the story.

The Columbus Housing Partnership said it is receiving more calls. In fact, calls have increased 35 percent over last year.

Those calls are from people wanting to know how they can keep their homes.

Many of them are going through the same experience as a woman on the North Side of Columbus.

“I don’t know how many more days I have in my house before I get that knock on my door,” Kristin Baker said.

Baker, a single mother, is waiting for foreclosure.

“It’s on my mind 24/7. It’s difficult to sleep. It’s difficult to relax. It’s difficult to not break out in tears at any given point,” Baker said.

Nine years in a home. Job loss. Health problems.

“This was my dream. I had never owned a house until I was 50, and this was my dream, and this was where I was going to spend the rest of my life, and my dream is shattered. It’s been tainted. It just makes me sad,” she said.

According to some reports, foreclosures in Ohio are decreasing. That’s not what the Columbus Housing Partnership is finding, though.

“Our numbers this year compared to last year is a 15 percent increase,” CHP President Amy Klaben said.

The foreclosure issue in Ohio is reaching a fevered pitch, according to some.

Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America marched on the Statehouse Thursday regarding predatory lending and foreclosures.

“What we’ve seen is that there’s a discouragement in Ohio, and there’s a discouragement in Ohio in a sense that people are saying, ‘Is there real hope out there?’ Because these lenders do nothing,” said Bruce Marks with the Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of America.

That’s what Baker said she has found.

“I want to contribute. I don’t want to be a freeloader. I don’t want a hand out. I want a hand up,” Baker said after two years of dealing with her lender and trying to keep her home.

She said she’s three steps away from having to leave her home.

She was involved in predatory lending and doesn’t know how much longer she will be in the home.

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