Meadowdale : an analysis of foreclosures of federally guaranteed mortgage loans

Includes bibliographical references.The purpose of this investigation was to examine the foreclosure patterns in a large suburban housing development in which the mortgages were all federally Insured or guaranteed* The source of data was public records such as the tract indices of the Recorder of Deeds and the records of the foreclosure actions. City directories were also utilized for the purpose of determining job location and occupation of the mortgagors under Investigation. Foreclosure data were gathered by examining the titles of 2842 homes in sixteen subdivisions in a large development in a Northern Illinois suburban community. The search disclosed that 531 of these mortgages were foreclosed and that the assignee of the mortgagee acquired title by deed An lieu of foreclosure in I63 cases. This total of 694 foreclosures produced a foreclosure rate of 24.4# The traot indices and the court proceedings were also examined for the purpose of determining the followings amount of mortgage, amount of down payment, address of mortgagor, current marital status, junior mortgages and trust deeds, judgments, liens, and bankruptcies. In addition to the universe of foreclosed mortgages, two sample groups were selected by random sample methods for the purpose of comparison. These groups consisted of 200 mortgages in the subject community which were not foreclosed and 200 conventional mortgages from the county in which the subject community was located. The chief cause of foreclosure appeared to be financial difficulty. The public records indicated that 76% of the foreclosed mortgagors were in financial difficulty as disclosed by Judgments, liens, bankruptcies, and junior mortgages and trust deeds. Divorce proceedings were involved in 11% of the foreclosures. Almost 36% of the foreclosed mortgagors abandoned their homes. Occupations as disclosed by the city directories did not appear to be greatly different for the three groups. However, a definite relationship appeared to exist between the foreclosure rate and the distance between the mortgagor's place of employment and his home.M.S. (Master of Science