More News

According to RealtyTrac, while foreclosure rates have stabilized in the rest of the nation, they continue to rise in Maryland, up 80 percent from this time last year. Gorgeous Prince George's has witnessed a 60 percent spike from January and a 70 percent increase from this time last year.

Our elected state and county leaders talk about the foreclosure epidemic in Maryland, but they don't do anything about it. They vilify the mortgage companies that made the bad loans, but they do very little to help homeowners fight against the "villains." They have normalized Maryland's foreclosure laws and proposed tiny initiatives to help homeowners while ensuring that virtually all foreclosures will proceed apace. Why aren't we getting more help?

The most common excuse we hear is that the state is broke, suffering from declining revenues and too much spending. Oh, and they're waiting for a response from the federal government. The truth is that many of our elected leaders are not too smart when it come to basic economics. Revenue comes from two sources: property taxes and income taxes. Foreclosures have a direct and adverse impact on property taxes. Foreclosures weaken housing values, resulting in a declining tax base. As people lose their houses, they move out of the area due to Maryland's increasingly high tax burden, which [in] turn places more and more Marylanders in a vulnerable position. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy. But, there are things that we can do to right the ship.

First, place a moratorium on all foreclosures for a one-year period. This provides a monetary incentive to mortgage lenders to work something out with homeowners. Second, fix foreclosure laws further to require mandatory arbitration prior to seeking a foreclosure. Arbitration is cheap, fast and effective with better outcomes than going to court. Third, require mortgage lenders to streamline their loss-mitigation process. It is ridiculous that many of the homeowners being foreclosed upon have been strung along by their lenders for upwards of two years with no resolution. It is impossible to plan for your future when you're kept in limbo. Finally, as this is an extraordinary crisis, the state should offer relocation assistance to dispossessed homeowners.

We need to encourage Marylanders to stay in-state, not leave and take their resources with them. That merely diminishes the rest of us!

Jason Papanikolas, Laurel