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Crippling debt loads and loose lending practices have backed many homeowners into a corner. Foreclosure is their way out.
Crippling debt loads and loose lending practices have backed many homeowners into a corner. Foreclosure is their way out.
DENVER, CO - NOVEMBER 8:  Aldo Svaldi - Staff portraits at the Denver Post studio.  (Photo by Eric Lutzens/The Denver Post)
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Weld has surpassed Adams as the Colorado county with the highest concentration of homes in foreclosure, according to Realty Trac, an Irvine, Calif., provider of foreclosure data.

One of every 66 homes in Weld County entered some stage of foreclosure in the second quarter, compared with one of every 71 homes in Adams County.

“It is not a fact we are real proud of,” said Donna Schmidt, chief deputy public trustee for Weld County. “We are extremely busy.”

In Colorado, one of every 158 homes entered some stage of the foreclosure process during the quarter ended June 30, about 2.7 times the national rate of one in 425 homes.

Colorado, for the fourth month in a row, led the nation with the highest concentration of foreclosures in June.

But the overall number of Colorado foreclosures captured by Realty Trac fell to its lowest monthly level so far this year – 3,695.

That represents a 12 percent decrease from May but a 61 percent increase over June 2005.

Nationwide, there were 88,195 properties at some stage of foreclosure during the month, a decrease of 5 percent from the previous month, RealtyTrac reported.

Schmidt blames poor lending practices for the jump in foreclosures in her county, including adjustable-rate and zero-down mortgages.

“We are seeing the tail end of the bad loans that were given out,” she said.

But Lou Barnes, owner of mortgage lender Boulder West Financial Services, blames a massive building wave along the northern Interstate 25 corridor.

“There is this frantic explosion of land subdivision, and I’m not sure even Weld County knows how many units it has approved,” Barnes said.

He estimates the county could house another 250,000 people given the developments in the pipeline.

To put that in perspective, Colorado as a whole is expected to see net migration of 32,000 people this year, according to the state demographer’s office.

The new construction has put downward pressure on prices and contributed to a record inventory of unsold homes.

In that environment, homebuyers who made minimal down payments are prone to foreclosure once they hit a rough financial patch, he said.

Besides job losses, loose lending practices and overbuilding can be a factor in high foreclosure rates, said Rick Sharga, spokesman for RealtyTrac.

Staff writer Aldo Svaldi can be reached at 303-820-1410 or asvaldi@denverpost.com.

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