Bad foreclosure news for DuPage County
Bucking a national trend, foreclosure filings were up 11 percent in DuPage County for the first quarter of 2010 compared to the same time last year.
In a few towns, the number of filings spiked dramatically during the year-to-year comparison period. Glen Ellyn had 35 foreclosure filings during the first three months of this year, compared to 21 a year earlier - a 67 percent increase. Filings were up 57 percent in Bloomingdale and 48 percent in West Chicago, according to statistics from the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation.
Brent E. Adams, IDFPR secretary, blames continued high unemployment for the increase in foreclosure filings in DuPage County and the rest of Illinois, at a time when the national foreclosure rate declined slightly.
"The unemployment factor is probably the single (greatest) cause of people falling behind on their mortgage payments," Adams said.
Overall, DuPage is ranked ninth out of the state's 102 counties in the number of foreclosure filings during the first quarter of 2010. And there's more bad news: Foreclosure auctions - the last step in the process - spiked 10.8 percent in DuPage County during the first three months of this year as lenders who had been holding off for the holidays or waiting to see how changes in federal legislation would pan out started unloading properties.
In an effort to help people who may be in danger of losing their homes, the state's Mortgage Relief Project is hosting a free workshop on Saturday, May 15, in Glendale Heights. The event is from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Glendale Heights Village Hall, 300 Civic Center Plaza, but "we'll stay as long as necessary to ensure that everyone is able to see someone," Adams said.
The Mortgage Relief Project offers struggling homeowners on-site help to rework their mortgages and prevent foreclosure. The Homeowner Protection Act in Illinois gives homeowners a grace period of up to 90 on mortgage foreclosures if they enter housing counseling to get their loan back on track. "Research has shown that homeowners who have the assistance of housing counseling are 60 percent more likely to save their homes," Adams said.
State law requires lenders to notify homeowners who are at least 30 days late on their mortgages that they have 30 days to get housing counseling. Once they enter housing counseling, homeowners get another 30-day grace period to work out a payment plan.
The Glendale Heights workshop is co-sponsored by State Sen. Carole Pankau, R-Roselle, and State Rep. Franco Coladipietro, R-Bloomingdale. Previous workshops have attracted as many as 400 people, and some started lining up as early as 6:45 a.m.
The Mortgage Relief Project is also planning workshops June 12 in Batavia and July 31 in Bolingbrook. A workshop is tentatively set for August 28 in Wood Dale.
For information or to get help immediately, call the IDFPR's consumer hotline at (800) 532-8785 or visit www.idfpr.com. A list of approved housing counseling agencies in Illinois is available at www.hud.gov.
DuPage CountyforeclosuresQuarterly comparison of foreclosure filings for larger DuPage County communities for the first quarters of 2010 and 2009.Addison: Up 5.1 percent, from 99 to 104Aurora: Up 5 percent, from 545 to 572Bensenville: Down 2.1 percent, from 48 to 47Bloomingdale: Up 56.8 percent, from 37 to 58Carol Stream: Down 5.3 percent, from 76 to 72Downers Grove: Up 1.8 percent, from 55 to 56Glen Ellyn: Up 66.7 percent, from 21 to 35Glendale Heights: Up 4 percent, from 121 to 126Lisle: Down 7.9 percent, from 38 to 35Lombard: Up 19 percent, from 58 to 69Naperville: Up 7.9 percent, from 114 to 123Roselle: Up 22.4 percent, from 49 to 60Villa Park: Up 2.9 percent, from 35 to 36West Chicago: Up 48 percent, from 52 to 77Wheaton: Up 37 percent, from 43 to 59Source: Woodstock Institute, Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation