Predatory lending fallout spreads

December 17, 2002

Rising foreclosures in Chicago leak into area suburbs


Inman News Features

Foreclosures are on the rise in Chicago and its suburbs, according to data released by Foreclosures.com.

Foreclosures.com President Alexis McGee said that predatory lending, which has long been an inner city problem, has now invaded Chicago's suburbs.

Of the 448 homes lost in foreclosure to sub-prime lenders through November, 43 percent were in middle class Chicago suburbs, according to McGee.

However, McGee said that, "while not all sub-prime lenders are predatory, all predatory loans are sub-prime."

"Over two months ago, we predicted that long term unemployment and slowing price appreciation in the Chicago housing market would spark an increase in foreclosure activity, and that's happened," said McGee.

The lenders cited in the Foreclosures.com study were Aames Home Loans, Citicorp, Household Bank and Ocwen Financial.

California-based Foreclosures.com is a foreclosure property investment advisory firm and publisher of pre-foreclosure data in five major U.S. housing markets. The company also offers courses that teach investors how to make optimum use of pre-foreclosure lists.

Copyright: Inman News Service


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