Cleveland Repossessions Affect More Than The Foreclosed Homeowner

In Cuyahoga County, Ohio, The Cleveland Plain Dealer blog reports:

• The thousands of families forced out of homes are only the most obvious casualties. Next-door neighbors are stuck with the empty houses that attract scrap-metal thieves and drug dealers. And because of the blight, some of the neighbors often can't sell their own houses for enough to start over somewhere else. Municipal governments face a lose-lose scenario. Millions of dollars in property values disappear as families abandon houses. Then governments must spend millions tending the neglected properties -- mowing lawns, picking up trash and demolishing structures. Just about every institution feels a pinch. School officials fret about eroding tax bases, banks lay off hundreds of workers, and home builders scale back construction plans. Real estate agents watch sale prices plummet. A cup of coffee now sells for more than some houses.

• More than 120 houses in Cleveland are being offered to the city for a buck apiece because the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development can't find other buyers.

For more, see The Foreclosure Crisis: What it means for Northeast Ohio.