City looks for foreclosure solutions

Evanston city officials say that, despite new government programs, homeowners facing foreclosure are still largely on their own.

"Careful negotiation by owners" with lenders "continues to be the most effective and efficient means of avoiding foreclosure," a staff memo discussed with aldermen Monday concludes.

Current data from RealtyTrac shows 174 homes in some stage of the foreclosure process in Evanston zip code 60201 and 178 in zip code 60202.

That's far higher than the 57 in Wilmette zip code 60091, but lower than the 207 in Skokie zip code 60076 or the 195 in Skokie zip code 60077.

Bank-owned properties in Evanston -- ones that failed to sell at foreclosure auction -- are largely concentrated in a few low-income sections of west and south Evanston.

But preforeclosure properties -- ones in which owners have fallen behind on mortgage payments and banks have filed notice with the courts of their intent to foreclose -- are somewhat more widely distributed across town.

A map from RealtyTrac showing a concentration of foreclosure properties in Evanston's 5th Ward.

"When you miss the first payment, that's when you need to call and get some help," Alderman Delores Holmes, 5th Ward, said.

The city has scheduled a foreclosure prevention seminar from 5:30 to 7 p.m. on Nov. 5 at the Civic Center. The session will feature presentations by National City Bank, the Interfaith Housing Center of the Northern Suburbs and the Chicago Legal Clinic, and translation services will be available.

Alderman Lionel Jean-Baptiste, 2nd Ward, said foreclosures are destabilizing neighborhoods. "People are squatting in some of these units," Jean-Baptiste said.

Alderman Ann Rainey, 8th Ward, suggested the city should use unpaid water bills as an early warning system for troubled homeowners. "We need to start communicating with them if we're really serious, but it's a lot of work," she said, adding that foreclosures "destroy any kind of morale in the neighborhood."

A new federal program called Hope for Homeowners can provide 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration for homeowners at risk of foreclosure under certain circumstances. More information about that program is available online.