Foreclosures Haunt The Mother Lode

Sonora & San Andreas, CA — Mother Lode foreclosures are falling right in line with the current trend throughout the country.

In Tuolumne County, Assistant Clerk Patsy Knox reports that during 2006 176 notice of defaults were recorded. So far this year 259 have been recorded. For the entire year there were 20 foreclosures (trustee deeds). In just the first half of this year there have been 27 foreclosures recorded.

In Calaveras County, Clerk-Recorder Karen Varni states that there were 217 notice of defaults for 2006. Already for this year 311 have been recorded. As for foreclosures (trustee deeds), there were 83 recorded a year ago while 147 have been recorded this year.

Many industry analysts indicate that many home owners have found themselves trapped with ballooning adjustable rate mortages they can no longer afford. In addition those same analysts state that many homeowners simply overextend themselves on their monthly mortgage payments.

Nationwide there has been a 58 percent increase over a year ago in the number of foreclosures. In California alone that figure stands at 158 percent. At the current time one out of every 124 homes in California is in foreclosure.

Written by Bill Johnson