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Small cities rate high in foreclosures
Everybody knows that Minneapolis is the foreclosure capital of Hennepin County, right?
In absolute numbers, that's true. But not if you measure the foreclosure rate -- the percentage of households in foreclosure.
By that yardstick, three lightly populated communities along the Crow River in western Hennepin County are in the top tier for foreclosures. They're Greenfield and the Hennepin County portions of Rockford and Hanover. They join Brooklyn Center and Brooklyn Park for the county's top five cities in foreclosure rate. In fact, Greenfield and Brooklyn Park are tied for tops at 2.3 percent of households foreclosed in 2007.
"You're kidding!" Greenfield Mayor Jill Krout said when she got the news from a reporter on Wednesday. Her exurb had 20 foreclosures last year.
Minneapolis? It rates only sixth, at 1.8 percent, despite 2,895 foreclosures.
Those surprises in a recent round of data crunching from Hennepin County have to be taken with several grains of salt.
Read more...
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The measure, which would give some homeowners up to an extra year, drew no votes from some key DFLers.
More from this series:
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State on track for 39% hike in foreclosures
Minnesota is headed toward a record number of foreclosures again this year, and while most of the homes are concentrated in Hennepin and Ramsey counties, outstate counties posted the highest foreclosure rates. -
Foreclosure 'help' ended up bringing more debt
Homeowners tell of dealings with companies that promised to prevent foreclosure but did nothing to help -- but charged them anyway. -
2 plead guilty in $35M mortgage scheme
Thomas J. Balko and Jonathan E. Helgason, co-owners of TJ Waconia, pleaded guilty to a three-year scheme that involved 162 properties and $35 million in mortgages, most in north Minneapolis. -
Minneapolis takes charge of T.J. Waconia homes in fraud case
TJ Waconia, sued by Minneapolis, was ordered to turn over 141 properties. The city wants to gain ownership, and may sell or rent them. -
St. Paul looks hard at fallout of foreclosure
The city announced strategies to get owners of foreclosed and vacant properties to take responsibility for them. -
Housing slump prompts cities to toughen rental rules
As New Prague and other cities see more single-family homes changing over to renters because of the national housing market meltdown, many are enacting tougher rental policies. Since February, Minneapolis has decided to collect a $1,000 fee when a home is converted to rental. -
Minneapolis OKs pilot loan program
Minneapolis City Council authorized a pilot loan program Friday to try to prop up foreclosure-sapped neighborhoods. Here's the scoop on Minneapolis Advantage, set to be ready in May. -
April 3: Minneapolis sues firm over mortgages: 'It's personal'
Minneapolis and three of its neighborhoods say Roseville-based TJ Waconia drove up prices, then cashed in. -
Firm linked to North Side foreclosures faces lawsuit
Several Minneapolis neighborhoods, joined by the city, plan to announce a civil fraud lawsuit today against a real-estate firm implicated in North Side home foreclosures. -
Minneapolis foreclosure program's focus turns to repairs
A program for neighborhoods hit by foreclosure seems like a popular idea, but the Minneapolis council has had trouble defining it. -
Foreclosure scourge hitting the suburbs
Hennepin County suburbs now have more repossessions than Minneapolis. It is an event that is not class specific, an analyst says. -
First, a wave of foreclosures; next, the wrecking ball?
One-third of the foreclosed houses inspected so far in north Minneapolis are candidates for demolition, according to the agency trying to rehab the state's largest concentration of empty housing. -
Big surprise behind some city foreclosures
A study has revealed that many foreclosures in the North Side, the area hardest hit in Minneapolis, occurred before interest rates jumped. -
Credit mess means Twin Cities homes selling for less
The median price of homes sold in the Twin Cities metro area during February dropped 12.5 percent, falling below $200,000 for the first time in at least four years. -
Homeowners seeing big drops in values
The declines in assessments -- drops of $20,000 to $30,000 are not uncommon -- are coming in middle-class neighborhoods away from foreclosure pockets in Minneapolis. -
Victims of investment in Otsego
Would-be investors in an Otsego development became trapped in a fraud case with mortgages that totaled more than $40 million. -
Foreclosures putting pets, livestock out of homes
As more Minnesotans lose their homes to foreclosure, many are finding they're also forced to give up their pets and livestock. -
Jan. 12: Eroding home appraisals latest blow to buyers, sellers
With house prices falling and the mortgage markets in disarray, more consumers are feeling the effects of a crackdown on appraisals by lenders and regulators. -
Audio slide show:
Living on the financial edge
Paul and Tracie Christopherson are living on the financial edge while trying to care for daughter Abi, who has had a dozen brain surgeries. -
Will rate freeze buy enough time?
Bush outlined a plan to buy time for subprime borrowers about to face higher rates; critics say it delays the inevitable. -
Video:
Foreclosure Auction
This weekend over 300 homes will be auctioned off during a foreclosure auction at the Minneapolis Convention Center. Troy Hoffman of Minnetonka, Mn. purchased a home during the auction.. -
Dec. 11: Mortgage foreclosures ripple into rural Minnesota
The Twin Cities has been hit hard by the mortgage crisis, but the effects have been even worse in some rural counties, where rising land values drew many into refinancing and subprime mortgages. -
Dec. 5: Housing slump echoes at City Halls
Shakopee is ground zero for fallout from the housing slump not only because it was once the region’s fastest-growing city, but because it also relied on revenue from building permits to sweeten its finances and keep taxes down. -
Dec. 2: Interest rates fall, but that may not be enough
Home-buying money is relatively cheap, but it's scarce for some because of the credit crunch. -
Nov. 6: Wave of foreclosures cost cities time and money
Unpaid water bills, tracking down landlords, chasing more people out of more boarded buildings: When so many property owners have problems, city governments have problems. -
Oct. 29: Wave of foreclosures hits renters
When landlords face foreclosures, tenants often lose their housing. Rights and leases can extend for months after a sale, but many families are scrambling and some are finding themselves homeless. -
Oct. 28: Struggling to escape the subprime swamp
The Christophersons had a conventional loan when two medical crises hit. They refinanced, but the hole just got deeper.