Foreclosures Still a Concern in Rohnert Park

President Barack Obama in late October announced a new plan to kickstart a federal mortgage relief program, called the Home Affordable Refinance Program, which would help homeowners with a mortgage backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Read more about the refinance program here.

And while the president has been criticized for the housing crisis — nationwide, nearly 11 million homeowners are underwater, at least 5 million have lost their homes due to foreclosure, and today, one in every three homes purchased is the product of a short sale or foreclosed property, according the White House — he acknowledged recently that this is “the single greatest cause of the financial crisis and this brutal recession.”

“There are still millions of Americans who have worked hard and acted responsibly, paying their mortgage payments on time," Obama said in a speech in Las Vegas. "But now that their homes are worth less than they owe on their mortgage, they can’t get refinancing."

Cities throughout Sonoma County are among the hardest hit by the recession.

A quick survey of RealtyTrac, a site that monitors foreclosed properties around the country, shows that in Rohnert Park, one of every 212 homes are in some state of foreclosure. In September alone, there were 81 foreclosures, and that's a trend that shows no sign of slowing. Houses in pre-foreclosure have been steadily rising over the last six months, according to RealtyTrac data.

Other cities, such as Sonoma, Petaluma and Santa Rosa, aren't faring any better. Petaluma has the second largest number of foreclosures in the county (behind Santa Rosa), with 90 foreclosures recorded in September and 100 in August. One out of every 302 Petaluma houses in September recieved a foreclosure filing, and in Sonoma, one out of every 257 houses are in foreclosure.

It's been two years since the federal government passed the Making Home Affordable Program that allows homeowners facing foreclosure to petition banks for loan modifications if they can prove hardship, like unemployment or an injury.

But according to local housing experts, the program has not been very effective because banks are dragging their feet processing the requests.

“What ends up happening is some people can hang in there and make their mortgage payment while the loan modification is approved,” said Bertha Medina, HUD certified housing specialist with California Human Development, a Santa Rosa nonprofit. “But because it takes so long (6-8 months) somewhere along the line, most people still end up defaulting.”

Medina advises anyone who is unable to make a payment on their home to alert their bank right away and try to work out some modification and then call a HUD certified housing specialist to see what options are available. The HUD certification is important because many fraudulent operators have jumped into the fray, promising to save people's homes only to make off with their money.

Like many others, Medina is frustrated with what she sees as unwillingness on behalf of banks to be more flexible with homeowners.

“If a bank would allow a property to go into short sale, they stand to lose 30 percent, but if they allow it to go into foreclosure, they are facing 50 percent loss,” she said. “So it doesn’t make sense that banks are letting these properties go to foreclosure and not giving homeowners time. Because time, time is really everything.”

Have you had your home foreclosed or are facing foreclosure now? Share your story.