Cleveland: Foreclosure's perfect storm

http://money.cnn.com/2007/11/12/real_estate/Cleveland_foreclosure_factors/index.htm?cnn=yes

Where Cleveland went wrong

It's too easy to blame the city's housing collapse on Rust-belt economics. How bad government and greed made it one of the nation's foreclosure capitals.

By Les Christie, CNNMoney.com staff writer
November 13 2007: 3:16 PM EST

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Speculation took off, and expectations ran wild before they were dashed.

According to Mark Seifert, executive director of the East Side Organizing Project, which provides foreclosure prevention services, his staff used to look out the window just before groups of troubled home owners were due in to attend counseling sessions.

"We'd see Escalades, Range Rovers, Cadillacs out in the parking lots" he said.

Now Rokakis's office is dealing with the aftermath. "One guy came in wanting Wiseman's help to save 12 separate properties," many of which he bought on speculation, entirely on credit with none of his own cash invested.

the Dems in Ohio fought like crazy to get laws passed in the General Assembly to regulate or stop predatory lenders, but the GOP was in charge of state government and steadfastly refused. The lenders were an integral part of the GOP campaign money laundering machine.

Gov. Strickland just offered a proposal to have the state put up money to bail out reliable homeowners to prevent more foreclosures, but the mortgage companies all refused it. They don't want the money going to the homeowners, they want it for themselves.

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1194601327307530.xml&coll=2