U.S. foreclosure filings up 81 percent in '08; Lake Co. among hardest hit

One out of every 54 housing units in the United States faced foreclosure filings in 2008, and among the worst hit metropolitan regions was the Lake County and Kenosha, Wis., area.

The North suburban area ranked 31st on a new list of 100 Top U.S. Metro Foreclosures in 2008, according to a report released Thursday by RealtyTrac, a Web site that tracks and sells foreclosure properties.

The city of Chicago ranked 33rd among the U.S. metro areas. No other local regions made the top 100.

Illinois, however, was the ninth highest state in terms of foreclosures, with more than 115,000 filings last year.

In the Lake County/Kenosha area, 6,323 properties -- or 2.5 percent of all housing units -- went into foreclosure, according to the report. That's a jump of 70 percent over last year.

Local Realtors reacted with surprise to Lake County/Kenosha's high ranking. They attributed it to the low-income areas of Waukegan, North Chicago and Round Lake where it's extremely hard for people to obtain mortgage assistance and credit.

Pablo Ayala, a Realtor based on the Lake County side of Buffalo Grove, said it's almost impossible for minorities and low-income residents to get credit or mortgage assistance in this market.

"The high taxes in Lake County probably had some effect, too," Ayala said.

Peggy Kayser, CEO of the Realtor Association of Northwest Chicago, agreed that the system is failing minorities and low-income families, who are struggling like everyone else to save their homes.

"It's not so much that it's a specific minority as it is lower income people of all races," she said. "People in (other) suburbs are more qualified and financially able to support their homes. People with shaky credit and low incomes, they don't walk into Chase Bank and ask for help. They go to less traditional mortgage brokers and they can get in some bad situations."

People who moved out to the Kenosha area in search of bigger homes and better values also may have gotten caught in the credit crunch and contributed to the area's high ranking, local Realtors said.

Across the U.S., in 2008, there were more than 3.1 million foreclosure filings, default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions, the report says. That's an 81 percent increase over last year and a 225 percent increase over 2006.