I 'Buy' Ugly Houses (and Rent Them as Slum Property)

Beware, there's a scam going on in Tucker neighborhoods.

By Chris Wood I’m sure you’ve seen the hand posted, sharpie scribbled signs on telephone poles. They say “I Buy Houses” or “No Credit, Foreclosures OK.” They also might say “Easy Terms, No Money Down!” or a variation on the concept. It’s attractive, seems easy, and a quick solution to a distressed homeowners situation. But not so quick. “Crystal & Kevin” (not their real names) are a couple who have found a clever way here in Tucker and nearby Stone Mountain to target potential victims. Well known and much liked, long time Tucker resident and senior citizen “Della” had lost her job and was concerned that she would lose her house. She felt alone and worried, discreetly sharing her fears with her neighbor across the street. One day Crystal …

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Question of the Week

Is It Morally Wrong to Strategically Foreclose Your Home?

Are the people who walk away from their debt being dishonest? Stealing?

One in every 330 homes. That is how many houses in Georgia received foreclosure notices in November according to RealtyTrac. Nationally, one in every 579 received a foreclosure notice. With Georgia's unemployment rate continuing to hover near 10 percent, many people have found themselves unable to pay their bills, including their mortgage payment. Others may be able to make the payment, but have found themselves "underwater" and elected to strategically foreclose their home. In a recent post, Cynthia Montgomery, a blogger from Dacula Patch, wrote: "Let’s say I pay home taxes on a county assessed amount of nearly $300,000. Fast forward to now, the county has assessed my home at $170,000! ... For many whom bought a home in the past five …

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A Pair of Tucker Mortgage-Meltdown Incidents

Tying the big picture to the home front

In these times of struggle and travail regarding finances, few locations have a happier lot than does Tucker.  Last week, readers saw, for example, that the rate of foreclosure seems much lower in Tuckerian zip codes than in many of those adjacent to it.  The same tilt toward Tucker would likely prove true among other social indicators as well--so that unemployment would be less, income more, job security greater, and so on. At the same time, no community can wholly escape a general crisis--the very universality of a problem causes its tentacles to extend to every corner of the socioeconomic firmament.  Thus, at a minimum, many dozens of Tucker homeowners have faced seizure of their domiciles, and virtually all property …

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Good News

Help is Out There

Local resources available for those in need

A friend of mine, I'll call him Mike, recently relayed this story to me. It started at a medical clinic. He had typical flu-like symptoms: fever, chills, the sweats. He sat in the waiting room at the clinic, which is exactly what he did. For two hours, which is a long time when you've got a temperature. He was miserable but he said there were many others, including little children, who were sicker than he was. One scenario broke his heart. A mother and her four year old were turned away because she had no money to pay for treatment. The little boy asked his mother, "Why are we leaving? Can't we get some medicine first?" Aside from his own, this wasn't the first time he'd witnessed hardship. He referenced a man who stands on the corner of …

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Darla Dixon

4:46 pm on Thursday, December 23, 2010

Good information, thanks for this article.   more ›

Foreclosing on a Dream

A worldwide crisis from the point of view of an arctic Tucker night

            At the current moment, only worries about jobs and unemployment likely outrank concerns about foreclosures and related fears about property--loss of value, rises in taxes, etc.  As far back as three years, according to the Associated Press, Georgia was eighth among States in terms of properties facing bank seizure, with roughly one out of every 140 households in such distress.             A year ago, the overall data that is most readily available and up-to-date indicated that  the Peach State was seventh in the national queue.  For third quarter, 2009, that meant that 33,300 homeowners faced the loss of hearth and household, up 25% from the previous year and now hovering at a rate still closer to one per cent.              The…

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