Illinois is a midwestern state of USA – prosperous and thriving. Illinois embraces huge stretches of farmlands and the jumbo city of Chicago. It has undulating glacial plain in the south, as also hills and valleys. It has 4,300 miles of awesome shoreline, about 1100 historic places and nearly half a million of reserve parks. Illinois is proud that Abraham Lincoln spent most of his professional as well as political life in this state. The capital of Illinois is Springfield.
Suddenly foreclosed homes in Illinois are grabbing the headlines. Foreclosures have always been part of the mortgage industry but lately the staggering number of foreclosures, running into millions across the country is causing concern.
More than half of the foreclosed homes in Illinois are located in the Chicago region. Each state has different laws for tackling foreclosures. The federal government has initiated many measures; so too has the state government and local administration. But nothing seems to be working and foreclosed homes in Illinois are on a forward march causing havoc in the real estate market. More foreclosed homes in Illinois are entering the market than the houses being sold and this is causing prices to plummet.
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur invested $68 million in the last half of 2008, in the form of grants and loans with low interest to avoid spiraling of foreclosures in the Chicago region. It is expected that this would benefit 10,000 families. It will also provide counseling for 6,000 mortgage borrowers. The officials of the foundation opined that through the efforts of MacArthur Foundation – it being the biggest investment made by a private trust to tackle the foreclosure crisis, 2,700 foreclosures could be stopped by 2010.
Hand in hand with the increase in foreclosed homes in Illinois has spiked the number of foreclosure scams. This made the Attorney General Lisa Madigan warn the house owners to be on the lookout for scam artists who come forward with empty promises to dupe traumatized foreclosure victims. They charge upfront fees and then vanish. Others do more lasting damage. In a press release in October 2008 Madigan said, “While consumers are doing all that they can to save their homes from foreclosure, it is unconscionable that con artists would prey on their vulnerabilities with these so-called ‘rescue’ schemes. Consumers need to know that free resources are available to them.” As an alternative they can contact HUD to be referred to bonafide counselors for assistance.
The office of the Attorney General has learnt that these scammers often charge upfront fees to the tune of $5,000. They promise action but vanish before any result can be seen. It is not just that the victims lose cash in the form of fees. The equity on their house is drained and they lose precious time when they persuade the owners to sign off the title deed to them on the plea of keeping them on as tenants until they can clear the loan when the value of the house increases at a later date.
Kevin Simpson, has been studying the foreclosures market, helping buyers on the finer points of Illinois foreclosures for sale.
Kevin Simpson, GM Sales & Marketing, Illinoisforeclosuresforsale.com
[tags]foreclosed homes in Illinois, staggering number, different laws for tackling foreclosures, MacArthur[/tags]
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