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Summit County foreclosure lawsuits keep falling
07.10.2019Summit County is on pace to record the lowest number of foreclosure lawsuits in nearly two decades.
The county recorded 856 mortgage, tax and land bank foreclosure suits over the first six months of the year — a 25 percent decline from the same period last year, according to data from the Summit County Clerk of Courts Office.
Summit has been seeing a downward trend in foreclosure lawsuits for several years. They peaked at 4,548 in 2006. There were 1,809 in 2000 — the last time there were fewer than 2,000.
Last year, there were 2,143.
Summit isn’t the only community experiencing a decline. ATTOM Data Solutions, an Irvine, California-based company that tracks foreclosure activity, noted that foreclosure filings were down 22 percent nationwide in May from the same period a year ago.
Experts have attributed the declines to a variety of factors, including a stronger job market and government-sponsored programs designed to help troubled homeowners. County Clerk of Courts Sandra Kurt said mortgage lenders also learned a lesson.
“They aren’t making the same risky loans,” she said.
Lawsuits don’t always lead to someone losing a home but are a strong indicator of economic and housing troubles in a community.
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Rick Armon
Beacon Journal/Ohio.com
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