Entire Grass Valley Subdivision Faces Foreclosure; Lack Of Sales Forced Builder To Fill Homes With Tenants

In Grass Valley, California, The Union recently reported:

• Driven by a falling housing market, The Highlands subdivision in Grass Valley largely has become a community of renters as the project's owner prepares to sell many of the homes on the county courthouse steps today. Grass Valley Highlands LLC owns the subdivision that is selling for $8 million at 12:30 p.m. After a year on the market, only four people have purchased homes and 20 others have signed lease agreements, leaving the remaining houses vacant. The total construction schedule of 39 homes was cut short at 35.

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• At least one homeowner is worried that the stigma of foreclosure will further diminish home values in the community. "I see it going downhill quick," the woman said, who did not want to give her name for this story. She and her husband down-sized and bought the small but brand new and quaint home last May. Since then, the couple has watched as the neighborhood of 35 homes became dominated by renters and vacancies while promises of a community park have dried up without funding.

For more, see With few buyers, subdivision forced into foreclosure.

For those renters (and any tenants in California) wondering how they get their security deposits back in the event they are forced to move after a foreclosure and the landlord is nowhere to be found, see New owners liable for refunding deposit (The Modesto Bee).