Cross-posted at The Daily Kos.
RealtyTrac today is reporting that foreclosures in America set a record in April.
Foreclosure filings in the U.S. rose to a record for the second consecutive month in April as banks increased efforts to seize homes from delinquent borrowers.
A total of 342,038 properties received a default or auction notice or were seized last month, RealtyTrac Inc. of Irvine, California, said today in a statement. One in 374 households got a filing, the highest monthly rate since the property data service began issuing such reports in 2005.
Interestingly, here in Michigan, the news was actually pretty good.
Michigan dropped out of the top 10 for its foreclosure rate in April…according to data released Wednesday by RealtyTrac Inc…
“We’ve seen Michigan moving down the list slowly,” said Daren Blomquist, spokesman for RealtyTrac. “It still has a high foreclosure rate compared to the rest of the country.”
See? Here in Michigan, that’s what we call “good news”.
Of course, any other state would shudder to shoulder the burden Michiganders are carrying. Our statewide unemployment rate is 13.9% and some think it will go to 20% by this time next year. In Detroit, on the other hand over one in five Michiganders is out of a job, probably well over if you consider those that have given up looking. Oh, and by the way? Chrysler just went bankrupt.
But, hey, we’re not in the Top Ten List anymore, not when you’re looking at the foreclosure rate. That’s right. Ten states are worse than us. Unless, of course, you look at the actual NUMBER of foreclosures…
…yet by sheer number of foreclosure filings it was ninth with 10,830, according to data released Wednesday by RealtyTrac Inc.
Let that number sink in for a second. Almost 11,000 thousand of my neighbors have lost their house in one damn month. Here’s some other Fun FactsTM about Michigan’s dismal state:
- GM’s stock has dropped to $1 and is likely to follow Chrysler into bankruptcy.
- Detroit used to have 2 million people. Now it has less than 1,000,000.
- Our state budget is predicted to have a $1.3 BILLION hole in it by September and it’s predicted to grow to 2.1 BILLION by 2010.
- U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said today that Detroit Public Schools are “Ground Zero” for educational disaster and they are closing 29 schools this year
- 38,000 state employees are taking six unpaid furlough days and 100 state troopers have been laid off [LINK].
- State tax revenues are down 13%.
- 69 new plant and animal species have been added to our state’s endangered species list bringing the number up to 396.
- In a related bit of news, many of our mammals are moving Up North due to global climate change.
- Our highly-esteemed wetlands are being put at risk as our state government is contemplating turning over the issuing of wetlands permits to the federal government in order to save $2 million.
- Our gas prices jumped HUGELY this week.
- The American Society of Civil Engineers has given Michigan’s infrastructure a “D” grade.
So yeah, things are pretty grim here in my fair state. It’s pure, bitter, sad irony that Helen Phillips, a Michigander, is America’s Biggest Loser. That’s how lots of us feel: like we’re the country’s biggest loser.
But, once you hit the bottom, there’s nowhere to go but up right? Summer’s coming, Eminem is taking 200 unemployed Michigan autoworkers to see the Jimmy Kimmel Live show in Hollywood, and the Detroit Tigers are over 0.500.
Say a little prayer for Michigan experiencing what David Foster Wallace would have called The Kertwang as we rebound and start the arduous climb back up into the realm of self-respect and economic prosperity.
We’re gonna need every prayer we can get.
I’m just sayin’…
