Foreclosures Hammering One South Florida Neighborhood

The Miami Herald recently reported the story of the Bunche Park neighborhood of Miami Gardens which is in the process of being ravaged, as house after house is lost to foreclosure. Highlights of the article:

• "[C]ardboard signs tacked on light poles offer reverse mortgages to the elderly and foreclosure rescue services to others. Piles of furnishings dot the streets, the evidence of evictions."
• "Bunche Park is a magnet for foreclosure because so many older people live there, says Miami Gardens Mayor Shirley Gibson. The neighborhood was set aside after World War II for black soldiers and their families, many of whom own their property mortgage-free. During the housing boom, the equity in their modest homes grew exponentially. Now, Gibson says, she hears of children and other relatives who tap into their inheritance early and don't make payments. ''It's heartbreaking, because what are you going to do? We can't get in the home and tell the grandmother not to let her child take the home,'' Gibson said."

For more, see Foreclosures soar in South Florida.

See also, Foreclosures Are Rising, Hurting The Poor (CBS4 - Miami, FL).