35%+ Of Cleveland Vacant Home Torchings This Year Were In Foreclosure

In Cleveland, Ohio, The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports:

• Arsonists have torched nearly 100 vacant homes this year in Cleveland, and the blazes are stressing the Fire Department's budget. More than a third of the houses were in foreclosure, leading investigators to believe the blazes may involve some sort of mortgage fraud. Ninety-eight vacant homes were burned through June 10. Of these, at least 35 of the homes set on fire were in foreclosure, according to a Plain Dealer analysis of fire and court records.

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• Nearly 25 percent of the torched homes have been in the North and South Broadway neighborhoods, which have one of the highest concentrations of foreclosed homes in the country. Councilman Anthony Brancatelli, who represents the area, said most of the 25 homes that were burned in those two neighborhoods had been boarded up before they were set on fire.

For more, see Arsonists burn 98 vacant houses in Cleveland; 35 in foreclosure (More than a third of homes hit by arsonists were in foreclosure Investigators suspect fraud in a growing number of arsons).

For other stories on fires & foreclosures, go here, go here, go here, and go here.

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