Hybla Valley Sees Fewer Foreclosures

Virginia homeowners saw a decrease in foreclosures in the last few months, but there are still more people losing their homes this year than there were a year ago.

"There haven't been that many in the areas where I do most of my work," said Tom Pleimling, who covers the Hybla Valley area with his company Tom Pleimling Realty Inc. "Things are really getting better right now. People just need to get the confidence gong."

Out of the nation's 3,142 counties, Fairfax County ranked 489 in the country in foreclosures in September, according to RealtyTrac, a company that tracks foreclosures.

Fairfax County is on track to see fewer foreclosures than last year, when the county saw 12,136 foreclosures for the year or an average of 1,011 foreclosures per month. So far this year, through the end of September, Fairfax has seen 7,109 foreclosures or an average of 789 per month.

"The capital area is made up of many markets and sub-markets and some are more hard hit than others," "said John L. Heithaus, chief marketing officer of Metropolitan Regional Information Systems or MRIS, headquartered in Rockville, Md". "Overall, the capital region has benefited from good demand for real estate and that has helped absorb the units on the market currently."

Virginia ranked 18th in the nation in foreclosures last month and saw foreclosures decrease by 3.71 percent from September to October, according to RealtyTrac.

The bigger year-to-year picture shows the increase. Statewide, the number of foreclosures in October—5,728—was 4.45 percent higher than a year ago, according to figures provided by the company.

Short-term, it's too soon to tell whether the decrease from September to October is due to mortgage banks freezing foreclosure activity, although it appears the initial 'shock' has somewhat abated," Heithaus said.

 Some banks have temporarily frozen foreclosures because the foreclosure process is coming under more scrutiny. Virginia recently joined a 50-state investigation into banks accused of forcing homeowners into foreclosure without proper paperwork, state Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli announced recently.

"The main issue is, so many folks walked away from their homes, and foreclosures were going uncontested," said Jason Biro, author of "Saving Your American Dream." "Those large numbers were part of foreclosure mills. Now that the cat's out of the bag, when it comes to the fraudulent procedures, the attorneys general want to be sure the process is in line with the proper foreclosure process."

State Rep. Robert G. Marshall, who represents Virginia's 13^th District (which includes parts of Loudoun and Prince William counties), has asked Virginia's attorney general to investigate Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, based in Reston and described last week by The Wall Street Journal as "the middleman firm in millions of court filings that helps keep the mortgage-securitization machine moving."

According to the newspaper, Marshall is drafting legislation that would require lenders to pay county fees before being allowed to proceed with foreclosures. "The disdain with which the conditions of law have been treated by those who want to make money too fast is very troubling to me," he told the paper.

Foreclosures caused by defaults on sub-prime mortgages are on the wane, while foreclosures due to unemployment and loss of income are now driving homeowners into default, according to a recent report from the Virginia Housing Development Authority. 

In the second quarter of 2008, most (54 percent) of Virginia's foreclosures were defaults on subprime loans, according to the report. In the second quarter of 2010, fewer (29 percent) of the state's foreclosures were due to defaults on subprime loans.

In Fairfax County, homeowners can seek help from housing counselors at (703) 246-5087 from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays.

Legal Services of Northern Virginia, which can be reached at 703-368-5711, also offers homeowners' assistance.