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A new report to be released today will show one in 10 properties in three of the state’s largest cities have been in foreclosure since the beginning of the housing crisis, disproportionately afflicting areas with nonwhite populations, activists say.
The report, being released in advance of JPMorgan Chase’s shareholder meeting May 17, demonstrates as well that more than one out of every 20 housing units in Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Columbus have been lost in foreclosure and have became bank-owned property during the last three years, according to National People’s Action, which is unveiling the report.
Ohio is one of the states hardest hit by the epidemic of foreclosure and joblessness. More than 280,000 homes are expected to go into foreclosure in Ohio by the end of next year, putting families out on the street and depleting the local tax base, the activists said. The cost of JPMorgan Chase foreclosures to Ohio taxpayers alone is estimated at $5.4 billion.
The country’s largest banks, including JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America Wells Fargo, Citibank and US Bank are the financial institutions with the majority of foreclosure filings in the three-city study area. Together the big banks (as either mortgage servicer, trustee, or through a subsidiary company) filed 57% of all home foreclosures on over 17,200 properties in the study area since the government supported rescue and consolidation of the nation’s largest financial industry. Prior to the recent foreclosure scandal and proceeding Ohio Attorney General’s investigation, the big banks were filing new foreclosures on upwards of 700 homes in the three cities every month.
Additionally, the report found that the foreclosure crisis has contributed to the problems of housing vacancy in Ohio’s urban areas. Within the three city study area, bank-owned foreclosed properties where three times as more prevalent in neighborhoods with relatively high vacancy rates (22.3% or more all housing units vacant). Approximately 5% of all housing units in high-vacancy neighborhoods became bank-owned since 2009, creating an estimated 10- to 30% increase in already high home-vacancy rates in impacted areas of Cincinnati, Cleveland and Columbus.
The impact of foreclosure crisis has had a widespread but uneven impact on Ohio’s urban communities. Hit the hardest are communities of color (black or Latino population over 60%), neighborhoods that are primarily black. The analysis shows that home foreclosures filings were on average almost three times as concentrated in communities of color than in majority white areas.
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homelessnhappy said:
on August 15, 2011 at 3:20 pm
the American people want jobs and stimulis legislation for the short run. Banks and financial institutins are intersetrd in reducing the debt in the short run. Therefore, there is absolutely no poltical will for stimulis. I love how, throuoghout the so called debt crisis debate,no one had the guts to piush for stimulis as a alternative to immediate debt reduction. Until, that is, the debate was over and the votes counted. Then, oh yes, then, you saw everyone come out to explain how “they were for a more balanced approach”. at that point they are just covering their ass. They had alraedy sold their vote to interests that wanted debt reduction. “Balanced approach talk after the fact is just for the consumption of the voters. Those who pay the way for these politicians to pursue their personal political careers, do not care about what they have to say in public to placate the voters in their district. They understand that bthey must pander, through the media, about what should be done. They only care about using their bmoney and investment in nthe political process to echeive nwhatever their end result is. Often their “end result” is in conflict with what is in the best interest of America and Americans ias a whole. Now, this is where the conflict arises. This is where the tire hids thye roadf. This is where you insert the popular witticism, “money talks and bullshit walks”. This is how we end up with a democracy which works for those who can contribute(bribe actually) to the political process in increasingly cladestine ways. This will be the undoing of this now fledgling democracy.