Home foreclosures increase again in Wisconsin

Home foreclosures increase again in Wisconsin

By Paul Gores

Mar. 2, 2009

Journal Sentinel

Home foreclosure filings continued to mount in Wisconsin last month, increasing 9% from February 2008.

There were 2,325 foreclosure actions started in the state in February, compared with 2,133 a year earlier, according to ForeclosureAlarm, a Madison firm that tracks foreclosure data.

In southeastern Wisconsin, filings rose about 5%, a check of court records showed Monday. The number of filings increased in every county in the area except Milwaukee County, where filings dropped to 489 from 533.

Philip Crawford, founder of ForeclosureAlarm, said the slowdown in Milwaukee County may be because of local mitigation efforts for people behind on their mortgages, and the winding down of defaults on subprime mortgages that were the first to get in trouble.

Crawford said he doesn't foresee big spikes in filings from now on, but they will continue to increase in the weak economy as people lose their jobs and are unable to repay their debts.

Forty percent of all the mortgages in foreclosure now are standard mortgages that were fully underwritten, where the borrowers' income was verified and there was a down payment, said Richard P. Imperiale, president of Forward Uniplan Advisors Inc. in Union Grove.

"What that says is this has gone from a problem on the margin to a problem that's beginning to erode the core homeowner," he said.

In southeastern Wisconsin foreclosure filings, Waukesha County ranked second in February with 106, compared to 98 a year earlier.

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