sacbee.com -- Politics -- Couple's plight raises questions
Here is another take on the famous Radcliffe foreclosure that includes a detailed account of how foreclosure sales work. Some will find it controversial because it seems to suggest that owners are often to blame for the foreclosure. Most scheduled foreclosures don't happen, the article says, because the owners pay up and avoid it, or they sell the house. For the few foreclosures that actually occur, the article says, the owners are often "irrational" and even "clueless" about the foreclosure process, so they end up losing a home, sometime with lots of equity, for a small amount of assessments, costs, and attorney fees. The article ends up talking about legislative reform being considered in California. Anyway, here's some of the text:
"Every few years, a story comes along that is similar to that of the Radcliffs: a home built or bought with very little or no mortgage, an illness or other personal problem that distracts the homeowner, an association that begins foreclosure for a trivial debt and a speculator who apparently snags a big profit. Homeowner advocates and some state lawmakers say the association foreclosure process is out of control. They say it defies reason that homeowners associations can foreclose for such small sums, robbing homeowners of thousands of dollars in equity...But homeowners associations say that without the power to foreclose they would need to dip into reserves to make up for residents who don't pay - and that they still could face insolvency. They say notification requirements ensure that homeowners know they are being foreclosed on and that only extraordinary cases lead to foreclosure, demonstrating that the system works. The sales are rare in part because it's almost never in a homeowner's interest to have the property sold at auction. If there's a dispute over debt, experts say, pay it and sue. If you can't afford to pay, file for bankruptcy - or sell the home on the open market. Either way, foreclosure is put off..."