PORT ANGELES — Foreclosures have nearly doubled in Clallam County this year, while staying flat in Jefferson County.
There were 302 non-discontinued notice of trustee sales, which start the foreclosure process, in Clallam County from Jan. 1 through September.
That’s nearly double the 171 notice of trustee sales in Clallam County during the same time period in 2008.
Jefferson County has had 72 trustee sales in 2009. There were 69 over the same time period in 2008.
Terry Roth, a private auctioneer in Clallam County, said more than a dozen individual pieces of properties have been going up for auction at the Clallam County Courthouse every Friday.
Some weeks, there are more than 20.
Roth said foreclosures are a “weather vane” of the sagging economy in the United States.
“Clallam County is in just as dire straits,” Roth said.
“We’re holding our own with the national trend. Things are not getting better.”
Defaults down
Roth said notice of defaults, which precede a notice of trustee’s sale, are down in Clallam County.
“That’s cyclical,” he said.
Sales on foreclosed properties are also down in Clallam County. Roth has sold three properties to buyers.
The rest have gone back to lenders, whether the mortgage company or the bank.
The type of foreclosed properties have ranged from an older $40,000 home in Forks to a $1 million property in Dungeness, Roth said.
“It’s not hitting any one community,” Roth said.
Based on his conversations with people losing their homes, Roth said the stock market collapse and credit card debt are the major factors.
“We’re seeing a variety of reasons why this has happened,” he said.
Jefferson County
Judi Morris, Jefferson County Treasurer, is speculates that Clallam County’s foreclosures are up because of the loss of several large business. Jefferson County has lost businesses, too, but they’ve been smaller ones.
“Surprisingly, our delinquencies for taxes are very similar to what they have been in past years,” Morris said.
“Properties in tax foreclosure are the same. I’m not seeing any increases at all.”
That may change, Morris said, because it can take several years for the impact of a down economy to be reflected in tax foreclosures.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-417-3537 or at rob.ollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
