MARIETTA — Following a dip, the number of foreclosures in Cobb County have risen to their highest amount so far this year.
For the June foreclosure sale, 1,173 foreclosure notices have been submitted to the Journal.
Monthly numbers are down 8 percent from this time last year — there were 1,277 notices submitted for the June 2011 sale — and year-to-date numbers continue to show a decrease in foreclosures.
The number of foreclosures submitted to the Journal so far in 2012 is down 20 percent during the same time period last year.
To date this year, 4,943 foreclosures have been submitted to the Journal. During the same time period in 2011, there were 6,182 notices submitted.
Legal notices must be published on four consecutive Fridays before a property can be sold at auction. Not all properties advertised necessarily end up at auction.
Foreclosure sales begin at 10 a.m. the first Tuesday of each month, on the steps of the Cobb County Superior Courthouse in Marietta. The next sale is June 5.
“It’s really hard to put your finger on what’s going on with foreclosures because you don’t know the timing of banks, when they’re putting these things on the market,” said Dr. Don Sabbarese, an economist at Kennesaw State University.
He said that while the number of people having difficulty paying their mortgages is declining, banks may be holding onto foreclosures.
“They might be waiting on a more opportune time when maybe prices strengthen a bit,” he said
On Tuesday, Bank of America announced that it had begun notifying about 200,000 customers that they may qualify to have the principal balance on their mortgages reduced as part of a $25 billion multistate settlement among large banks over alleged foreclosure abuses.
In the wake of the bank foreclosure scandal in 2010, in which some homeowners may have wrongfully lost their homes, federal bank regulators required the establishment of a free, Independent Foreclosure Review to help borrowers determine whether they were affected and should receive compensation.
However, fewer than 4 percent of eligible borrowers, roughly 165,000 people, have applied for a review, according to National Public Radio.
The original April 30 deadline has been extended to July 31.
If your primary residence was involved in a foreclosure process between Jan. 1, 2009, and Dec. 31, 2010, you may qualify for a free Independent Foreclosure Review. For more information about the review and claim process, visit www. independentforeclosurereview.com. Assistance with the form is available at (8880 952-9105.
