Foreclosure filings are soaring in Maryland, whilethe tsunami is easing in Virginia.
The rate of filings in Maryland has surged into the top 10 nationwide, with the number jumping 84 percent in November compared with a year ago. In tony Montgomery County, filings doubled to almost 1,000 last month, and Prince George’s County posted more than 2,000 filings — about one-third of the state’s total.
“[Prince George’s], statistically, has had higher levels of foreclosure around here,” said Marian Siegel, executive director of Housing Counseling Services, a nonprofit group in D.C. “The homeowners are frustrated.”
Virginia, on the other hand, looks to be easing its way out of the housing crisis, with a year-over-year drop of about 20 percent statewide.
Prince William County — among the hardest-hit areas in the country just several years ago — posted more than 6,500 actual foreclosures in 2008. Last month, the county’s filings totaled 617, according to RealtyTrac, a company that tracks and markets foreclosed properties — a 40 percent drop from November 2008. Foreclosure filings include default notices, scheduled foreclosure auctions and bank repossessions.
Those homeowners are still feeling the pain — but now the problem is creeping north, and east.
Anirban Basu, chief executive officer of research firm Sage Policy Group, has said that Northern Virginia has been a leading indicator of the Washington area’s real estate market, while the Maryland suburbs have lagged.
Prince George’s County posted 2,089 foreclosure filings last month, a 68 percent increase from November 2008 and nearly one-third of the state’s total.
In upscale Montgomery County — one of the nation’s richest counties — filings more than doubled to 952. The total was higher than Prince William’s, as well as its Virginia rival, Fairfax County, which saw 757.
And a Germantown neighborhood crept into the top 10 local ZIP codes for November filings. Another was a neighborhood in Woodbridge — with the rest coming from Prince George’s.
Foreclosure totals in further-out Maryland suburbs such as Frederick, Charles and Calvert counties pale in comparison to the sheer volume in Prince George’s. The statewide total of 6,370 in November is up 84 percent from the same period last year.
A well-intentioned law may be part of the problem. Maryland passed a law in April 2008 that increased the minimum length of the foreclosure process. The bill also made lenders wait 90 days after default before filing, and to notify the homeowner 45 days before they do so.
Daren Blomquist, a spokesman for RealtyTrac, said similar programs had been started in other regions, noting a “pretty significant trough” of filings in the Maryland area in mid-to-late 2008.
“Unfortunately, a lot of these efforts really delayed as opposed to stopped [the problem],” he said.
One way out of foreclosure is to modify the mortgage. But permanent modifications are difficult to come by, Siegel said.
Many in the Washington area are suffering, although they tried to get help.
Danna Newball’s home in Northwest D.C. was foreclosed upon Dec. 1.
“What I’ve been trying to figure out is where [is] the help out there that’s supposed to be out there,” she added. “I never found it.
“No matter how hard you work and try, there’s no help out there,” she continued.
Organizations like Siegel’s are trying. But she said the problem is “absolutely not abating” locally.
“When you’re looking at statistics, don’t think one quarter is a trend,” Siegel urged. “It’s not.”
