Top 500 Zip Codes for Foreclosures (CA)

Top 500 Zip Codes for Foreclosures
by John Occhi, Hemet CA REALTOR
Hemet CA Real Estate

I recently wrote a blog post where I provided a Foreclosure Heat Map that was provided by RealtyTrac.

RealtyTrac does pretty much what its name implies - they track real estate data - focusing on the foreclosure market. They recently released a study of the top 500 zip codes in the United State that are affected by the foreclosure market.

Of the 500 zip codes pointed out by RealtyTrac, I am sad to say that California leads the country with 138 - including two of three 3 zip codes we have here in Hemet, California - including my own 92544.

The list includes 19 zip codes in Riverside County and another in San Bernardino County bringing the Inland Empire region to 39 zip codes across the nation that are in the top 500 zip codes that have seen the most foreclosure activity

Foreclosures: Hardest hit zip codes
National Rank	Zip Code	City	Default Notices	Auction Notices	Bank Repossessions	Total Foreclosure Filings
6	95823	Sacramento	450	41	143	634
13	95828	Sacramento	372	46	113	531
15	92336	Fontana	380	74	55	509
22	92563	Murrieta	320	105	40	465
23	95758	Elk Grove	344	37	83	464
24	92057	Oceanside	191	15	254	460
25	94565	Pittsburg	366	40	45	451
27	92345	Hesperia	320	61	61	442
30	94509	Antioch	322	37	67	426
31	95206	Stockton	263	101	60	424
34	95838	Sacramento	300	33	84	417
37	94531	Antioch	302	45	64	411
40	93535	Lancaster	297	48	61	406
41	93550	Palmdale	301	47	56	404
46	94591	Vallejo	266	72	49	387
47	92376	Rialto	281	49	47	377
48	95624	Elk Grove	278	30	65	373
52	95843	Antelope	225	25	117	367
55	92562	Murrieta	261	71	26	358
62	92392	Victorville	254	43	56	353
66	94533	Fairfield	235	57	54	346
70	92592	Temecula	240	65	37	342
73	93635	Los Banos	252	49	37	338
75	95757	Elk Grove	231	34	72	337
78	94513	Brentwood	255	31	50	336
79	95835	Sacramento	227	33	74	334
91	94589	Vallejo	229	46	38	313
93	93536	Lancaster	209	43	58	310
94	95660	North Highlands	208	20	82	310
97	92571	Perris	216	55	38	309
99	92404	San Bernardino	225	41	41	307
100	95820	Sacramento	206	28	73	307
103	91342	Sylmar	204	55	43	302
107	95842	Sacramento	196	27	75	298
110	92553	Moreno Valley	224	54	18	296
114	95340	Merced	215	45	32	292
120	95355	Modesto	198	59	33	290
125	94590	Vallejo	191	49	46	286
130	92557	Moreno Valley	218	48	17	283
136	93551	Palmdale	193	42	40	275
141	92335	Fontana	203	38	30	271
150	95376	Tracy	165	61	39	265
157	92114	San Diego	211	29	20	260
158	94806	San Pablo	193	25	42	260
161	92882	Corona	195	40	24	259
163	91977	Spring Valley	216	24	18	258
170	95350	Modesto	199	35	20	254
178	95621	Citrus Heights	174	19	57	250
179	92555	Moreno Valley	178	48	23	249
180	95822	Sacramento	173	17	59	249
185	95351	Modesto	184	45	18	247
187	91913	Chula Vista	192	30	24	246
188	95670	Rancho Cordova	153	30	63	246
190	95687	Vacaville	147	40	58	245
192	91911	Chula Vista	208	16	20	244
197	95209	Stockton	149	55	37	241
200	92407	San Bernardino	169	35	35	239
201	94585	Suisun City	160	39	40	239
202	94605	Oakland	199	24	15	238
206	92154	San Diego	204	25	7	236
207	93722	Fresno	187	35	14	236
210	90044	Los Angeles	162	56	16	234
217	95648	Lincoln	170	45	15	230
221	91910	Chula Vista	196	16	16	228
228	93312	Bakersfield	172	38	16	226
233	94804	Richmond	176	24	23	223
234	95210	Stockton	135	58	29	222
238	93307	Bakersfield	171	33	17	221
241	95363	Patterson	186	12	22	220
246	95358	Modesto	165	33	21	219
247	92503	Riverside	177	28	13	218
248	92551	Moreno Valley	160	39	19	218
249	92880	Corona	170	32	16	218
250	94534	Fairfield	166	26	26	218
252	90805	Long Beach	161	29	27	217
253	92584	Menifee	155	36	26	217
257	92346	Highland	146	36	33	215
258	92530	Lake Elsinore	158	46	11	215
261	92301	Adelanto	153	28	33	214
262	95377	Tracy	141	43	30	214
264	92509	Riverside	167	34	12	213
266	90003	Los Angeles	164	27	21	212
271	95833	Sacramento	168	11	31	210
274	92394	Victorville	150	26	33	209
278	91331	Pacoima	146	38	24	208
279	95747	Roseville	155	34	19	208
283	92337	Fontana	163	21	23	207
286	95307	Ceres	168	21	17	206
292	95678	Roseville	150	36	18	204
293	95815	Sacramento	135	20	49	204
298	95824	Sacramento	146	16	41	203
305	93534	Lancaster	147	22	31	200
306	94561	Oakley	145	19	36	200
313	92544	Hemet	134	37	27	198
314	95207	Stockton	129	38	31	198
325	92240	Desert Hot Springs	152	25	20	197
326	95632	Galt	136	24	36	196
330	91335	Reseda	118	44	33	195
333	92201	Indio	143	42	9	194
334	95336	Manteca	120	40	34	194
335	95662	Orangevale	159	9	26	194
342	95628	Fair Oaks	153	11	28	192
348	92405	San Bernardino	133	31	26	190
353	92410	San Bernardino	144	21	23	188
356	92105	San Diego	143	25	19	187
357	92126	San Diego	146	19	22	187
360	95630	Folsom	138	14	34	186
364	90650	Norwalk	145	24	16	185
365	95354	Modesto	137	30	18	185
371	95212	Stockton	130	30	24	184
376	92307	Apple Valley	136	28	19	183
377	92324	Colton	131	32	20	183
380	92308	Apple Valley	121	25	36	182
384	95205	Stockton	117	40	24	181
396	92545	Hemet	124	40	15	179
397	93552	Palmdale	125	29	25	179
398	94801	Richmond	144	16	19	179
403	93308	Bakersfield	128	29	21	178
407	93313	Bakersfield	145	23	9	177
408	95204	Stockton	111	40	26	177
416	95826	Sacramento	124	21	30	175
417	94603	Oakland	143	22	9	174
418	95330	Lathrop	115	46	13	174
426	92879	Corona	117	39	16	172
429	92883	Corona	121	32	18	171
446	95610	Citrus Heights	109	17	41	167
453	90043	Los Angeles	110	46	10	166
457	92115	San Diego	125	25	15	165
465	91344	Granada Hills	110	29	25	164
466	91761	Ontario	122	21	21	164
467	92027	Escondido	131	16	17	164
468	95829	Sacramento	121	9	34	164
470	92395	Victorville	111	33	19	163
483	90047	Los Angeles	118	30	13	161
487	92139	San Diego	116	22	22	160
494	91709	Chino Hills	126	20	13	159
497	93306	Bakersfield	126	23	9	158
499	90002	Los Angeles	111	26	20	157
Source: RealtyTrac®

To view the entire list, go to the CNN Money article published on June 19, 2007.
Now Have a Blessed Day,

John Occhi, Hemet CA REALTOR
Mission Grove Realty
Hemet CA Real Estate

Loss Mitigation and the Service Provider

Loss Mitigation and the Service Provider
by John Occhi, Hemet - San Jacinto Valley REALTOR
Hemet - San Jacinto CA Real Estate

The times are definitely changing for mortgage lenders and investors as they realize that they have a very real potential for a flood of REO properties to deal with. In order to prevent the foreclosure and pending inventory of REO properties, the industry is starting to grasp and focus more on loss mitigation techniques to creatively avoid the whole foreclosure mess.

The Center for Responsible Lending recently released a study predicting that 2.2 million American households are going to lose their homes. This study predicts that over 20% of all subprime loans originated in the 2005 -2006 period will fail amassing up to $164 Billion in foreclosures - just in the subprime market.

It has been reported over and over again that subprime borrowers received risky loans or ARM products and that many of the borrowers just do not understand the implications of their loans. Many sources will agree that 80% of all the subprime loans issued in this period were issued under risky conditions.As the ARMs reset, homeowners just won't be able to make their higher payments. I think when history looks back, this will be known as the decade of loss mitigation. Right now people are doing whatever they can to avoid foreclosure, utilizing many creative means.

There has recently been news that homeowners are not even keeping current with their home loans in the first 3 to 6 months. This is a bad sign that is costing the market and the overall economy a lot of money.

Perhaps the biggest cause for this slide is that mortgage brokers are more often than not selling loan products to borrowers that are beyond their means. There is also much fraud on this side of the industry - most of the time it is on a very small scale and then there are those who just want to drive a Mac Truck through the loopholes to take advantage of every single opportunity, to their fullest capability.

A popular product that has gotten more homeowners in trouble, than any other is the No Doc - Stated Income. Mortgage brokers thought this was their license to lie - however every document they fudged is an act of fraud - a fraud that lined their pockets and is now having a ripple effect through our national economy.

Certainly the mortgage lenders have to take their share of responsibility for making such an easy loan to get available to so many with bad to poor credit histories.

Hello, what were they thinking? Better yet, were they thinking?

Today, mortgage servicers are looking to technology to help manage the analysis of the foreclosure process. The key to a successful loss mitigation department is to work directly with the homeowner early on in the process. They need to profile the borrower, the home, the local market and score the loan accordingly.

Month to month fluctuations in the market make it necessary for the lenders to stay on top of the slow pay loans, as much of their success will depend on market knowledge. They have to use the available technology to help them keep track and understand the weight each property inspection carries and how valuations can change with the changes with the statistical data of the local marketplace for the very specific neighborhood as well as the overall region.

Mortgage loan servicers need to know the cost of foreclosure and what they stand to lose if the property goes REO. Today, with the help of technology, service providers can eliminate many foreclosures by either accepting a deed-in-lieu, approving a short sale or other loss mitigation methods that are available.

In order for a lender to really grasp what they stand to lose if a property is foreclosed on the lender must weigh and score the borrower's past delinquency history, analyze their credit history, understand the quirks of the geographical location of the subject property as well as understanding the local laws where the property is located - after all they need to know if they are working in a judicial or non-judicial foreclosure state. (California is a non-judicial foreclosure state.)

It seems as if the emphasizes that lenders have traditionally had is the volume of loans they can generate. This attitude has to do a reversal. It does no one any good if a loan made today cannot be kept current for the next three months. Lending should not be a game of volume but a game of quality. Non-performing loans are a drain on resources - both to the lender, the borrower and the national economy.

As a Realtor, working primarily in the Hemet - San Jacinto Valley, CA I regularly see the effect that loans in default cause local homeowners. I know the problem extends throughout Riverside County, the Inland Empire and the rest of California and most of the country as well.

I recognize that loss mitigation is an incredible tool for the homeowner in trouble who wants to and can afford to keep their home. Unfortunately, it doesn't always work for everyone - but those it can help think of it as a God send. In an effort to best service my local real estate market in Hemet CA I have recently aligned myself with a well respected national company that I believe in - Freedom Foreclosure Prevention Services (FFPS).

Freedom Foreclosure Prevention Services may be able to help if it is your desire to stay in your home. They guarantee their services and never charge a dime until they know what they should be able to do.

The new economy is producing many fraudulent investors that will try and take advantage of stressed homeowners when they are facing foreclosure. I can only warn for you to be careful with whom you are working with and do your own diligence before you ever commit to anyone and sign any documents that may put your home and your equity in jeopardy.

If FFPS cannot help you, then your choice is to sell the home outright to an investor or to market it through a REALTOR and try for the short sale option. This is where I come in and hope to be able to help. Please look through the links at the bottom of this page for more information on this important topic, before making any decision.

Now Have a Blessed Day,

John Occhi, Hemet CA REALTOR

Mission Grove Realty

Loss Mitigation Consultant

Other Articles of Interest by John Occhi, Hemet REALTOR:

How do Short Sales Affect the Economy?

What Is A Short Sale?

Why would a Lender Consider a "Short Sale"?

What Should a Homeowner Do When They are Behind?

How Foreclosure are Effecting the Market

Mortgage Fraud Can Have a Negative Ripple Effect

Please don't forget to add your comments below.