Schaumburg says foreclosures starting to slow
In light of increasing foreclosures and vacant homes, Schaumburg staff members are keeping to their practice of monitoring and maintaining such properties as well as starting to provide trustees with quarterly reports.
However, there is a trace of good news to be found in the rising number of vacancies.
“It’s been going up, but the number is not going up at the rate it has been in recent years,” said Director of Community Development Julie Fitzgerald.
According to the Woodstock Institute’s foreclosure activity report, foreclosures in Schaumburg totaled 94 in 2005, 166 in 2006, 187 in 2007, 291 in 2008, 532 in 2009 and 689 in 2010.
The village has a total of 33,586 housing units, of which 12,073 are single-family.
In comparison, Hoffman Estates had 537 foreclosures in 2010, Palatine had 782 and Arlington Heights had 500. There were 49,967 foreclosures throughout Cook County.
As far as vacant properties — a different category measured by Schaumburg itself — there are currently 410 being monitored by village staff.
These include 102 single-family homes, 270 multifamily units and 38 commercial units.
To cover the cost of upkeep of vacant properties, Schaumburg has been placing tax holds on them. The village has also been issuing $100 tickets for grass more than 8 inches high, $50 tickets for illegal trash can storage and $100 tickets for illegally parked or inoperable cars.
During the last fiscal year, the village issued 101 tickets, 23 of which resulted in payments totaling $3,100.
But the still-increasing number of foreclosures has been causing the village to exceed its weed-cutting budget. Both landscape maintenance and trash disposal are done at abandoned properties to help protect the value of neighboring homes.
The village’s annual weed-cutting budget jumped from $3,500 to $5,500 in 2009, but the actual amounts spent continue to exceed it.
Schaumburg spent $4,923 cutting 18 properties in 2007-08; $9,475 on 33 properties in ’08-09; $8,367 on 59 properties in ’09-10; and $7,901 on 67 properties in ’10-11.
The amount spent in ’08-09 included $2,815 on the cleanup of a hazardous home.