Fresh Loaf

We giggled when Gov. Sonny Perdue prayed for rain because, well, the whole affair was just silly. Everyone knows God is too busy fighting health care reform and strip clubs to care about a drought.

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, always one for a challenge, is gonna try and one-up Perdue. Tonight outside the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta in Midtown, the founder of the RainbowPUSH Coalition will hold a 6 p.m. prayer vigil. His wish to the heavens? Lord, convince banks to “restructure loans, not foreclose on homes.”

Jackson will be joined by Americans for Democratic Action and the Georgia Coalition for the People’s Agenda. An event organizer told CL that Jackson’s prepared, if need be, to practice some of that good ole fashioned civil disobedience to help raise awareness.

It’s a noble idea, especially here in hard-hit Georgia, home to some of the harshest foreclosure laws for homeowners. But good luck. You might find it’s a helluva lot easier convincing God to make it rain than it is bankers to restructure deals.

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1. Congress debates, votes on cap-and-trade energy bill (Good news: The House passed the monumental energy-conversation bill. Bad news: Georgia Congressman Paul Broun has embarrassed the entire state.)

2. Clermont foreclosure is tip of the iceberg (The plot thickens.)

3. Michael Jackson tributes in Atlanta (Atlanta celebrates the King of Pop. Twitter crashes. And Perez Hilton weeps.)

4. Coolest contest ever: Redesign the Clermont Hotel (The contest would have been a lot cooler if the seedy hotel wasn’t in danger of foreclosure. See No. 2.)

5. Peachtree-Pine homeless shelter told to vacate building (In the end, surprisingly, the homeless prevailed.)

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Atlanta neighborhoods burdened by abandoned or foreclosed homes might soon see a little help thanks to nearly $14 million in federal funds.

From D.L. Bennett at the AJC:

Atlanta has chosen 15 local companies to split nearly $14 million in hopes of combating the foreclosure crisis that’s left several neighborhoods in the south and west parts of the city struggling for survival.

Atlanta is the first city to award money under the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program.

…

The Atlanta City Council has already agreed to give four companies about $3 million obtained from the program that will pay for flipping houses to fix troubled neighborhoods.

On Monday, the council plans to award its remaining $11 million to 11 more companies who are all promising to repair and either sell or rent homes and apartments in some of the city’s toughest neighborhoods.

Bennett has more details on the different companies and what they propose.

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In late 2007, Georgia Tech professor Dan Immergluck released a study that added numbers to a sneaking suspicion: Property taxes were rising fast along the southern half of the Beltline, the 22-mile loop of parks, trails and transit planned to circle Atlanta’s urban core, and posing a problem for longtime residents unable to afford the uptick.

The study served as a reminder that for all its promises of parks, streetcars and smart-growth development, the Beltline could potentially cause displacement and gentrification — and have a negative impact on the neighborhoods the project is designed to help.

Immergluck’s followed up the study with Foreclosed!, a new book about the origins and aftershocks of the nationwide housing market meltdown.

(more…)

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This Saturday, a meeting is scheduled with the intriguing title “Fighting Foreclosures: A Call to Action.” I’m not sure how you fight foreclosure other than keeping up your mortgage payments or reaching an agreement with your lender, but I guess that’s what the meeting’s about.

Anyway, the list of sponsors and participants in the event reads like a Who’s Who of left-leaning organizations: the ACLU, Georgia Coalition for a People’s Agenda, Open Door Community and many others. The media sponsor is WRFG; the host is the activist Pastor Tim McDonald; and welcoming remarks are by some guy representing the Metro Atlanta Democratic Socialists of America!

But, kidding aside, the event – which begins at 11 a.m. at the First Iconium Baptist Church in East Atlanta – isn’t a protest rally but a foreclosure seminar in which useful information should be disseminated. State Sen. Vincent Fort, D-Atlanta, will discuss fair lending laws; William Brennan, director of Atlanta Legal Aid’s homeowner assistance program, will talk about predatory lending; and Emory political science professor Michael Rich will attempt to explain the foreclosure crisis for the layperson.

There will also be time for a Q&A and action proposals. The primary sponsor is the Georgia Rural Urban Summit, which can be contacted at 770-313-4628 for more information.

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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Amount of money seized from illegal drug operations in Gwinnett and other metro counties in 2008, in dollars: 70 million

Metro Atlanta’s ranking among 195 major cities in the U.S. as a drug-cartel activity center: 1

Georgia’s 6th District’s ranking among 435 congressional districts for having the happiest residents: 2

Peachtree City’s ranking among Georgia’s best affordable suburbs: 1

Median household income in Peachtree City, in dollars: 93,046

Number of homes for every one foreclosure in Cobb County in February: 406

Number of homes for every one foreclosure in Fulton County in February: 316

Number of homes for every one foreclosure in Gwinnett County in February: 264

Number of homes for every one foreclosure in Clayton County in February: 163

Sources: USA Today, AJC.com, Business Week, RealtyTrac.com

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The New York Times Magazine offers a full preview online of its profile about Tony Brancatelli, a Cleveland City Councilmember who’s battling a problem currently plaguing Atlanta — what to do with the rows and rows of abandoned and foreclosed homes.

From the magazine:

Foreclosures are a problem all over the country now, but Cleveland got to this place a while ago. Cities, old and new, are looking at what’s occurring in Cleveland with some trepidation — and also looking for guidance. Already places as diverse as Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Las Vegas and Minneapolis have neighborhoods where at least one of every five homes stands vacant. In states like California, Florida and Nevada, where many of the foreclosures have been newer housing, there is fear that with mounting unemployment and more people walking away from their property, houses will remain empty longer, with a greater likelihood that they will deteriorate or be vandalized. “There are neighborhoods around the country as bad as anything in Cleveland,” says Dan Immergluck, a visiting scholar at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta and an associate professor in the city and regional planning program at Georgia Tech. Local officials from other industrial cities have visited Cleveland to learn how it’s dealing with the devastation. “Cleveland is a bellwether,” Immergluck says. “It’s where other cities are heading because of the economic downturn.”

Immergluck, if you recall, wrote the eye-opening 2007 report (PDF) that concluded property values were rising faster along the southern half of the Beltline — Atlanta’s 22-mile loop of parks, trails and transit — than the project’s other areas. Both that report and the Times article are great and deserve a read.

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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Good news if you have abandoned or foreclosed homes on your block:

Federal housing officials have approved plans by six Georgia communities to spend nearly $36 million to combat the effects of high foreclosures and declining home values.

…

On Monday, HUD approved plans involving $18.5 million for DeKalb County and $12.3 million for Atlanta and smaller plans for Savannah, Augusta-Richmond County and Clayton and Muscogee counties.

Under the plans, emergency assistance will be targeted for specific neighborhoods by acquiring and redeveloping foreclosed properties that might otherwise be abandoned, leading to blight.

Cities and counties have 18 months to spend the grants.

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>> The United Nations headquarters and the Associated Press offices in Gaza are just two of the latest to be hit by Israeli force. Israel claims they didn’t mean to burn up all the food for Palestinian refugees housed in the U.N. No word yet on whether they meant to kill journalists, though.

>> In more news no one is surprised about, the latest stats show foreclosures were up 81 percent in 2008 from 2007.

>> The Wild, Wild Southeast!: Turning the tables on a potential robber, a would-be victim shot his mugger several times in East Atlanta. Criminals beware — nearly 3,000 people have weighed in on this story’s poll saying that shooting first is “always [right], you have to defend yourself.”

>> Obama and his newly-minted administration may get its first part of the latest stimulus package before he’s officially in office. Many Republican senators may not actually vote to release the $350 billion, but several are saying that at least the incoming team is handling it better than the outgoing one.

>> Speaking of outgoing…

>> Apple CEO Steve Jobs is taking a leave of absence, sparking fears about the future of the company. In response, trigger-happy investors stress the economy even more by doing what they do best — freaking.

>> The seemingly never-ending drama of female celebrities decrying photos they took but probably shouldn’t have has a new star — Jessica Biel!

(Photo by Joeff Davis)

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Fulton County Commissioner Robb Pitts — who’s got dreams of building new libraries and putting casinos downtown — says he wants to give county police officers “free” homes. He says it’s an appropriate step at a time when the county is swimming in abandoned and foreclosed homes and police are having a hard time paying and retaining officers.

There’s a catch, of course — the officers just have to promise they’ll stick around for 15 years.

From Pitts release:

Pitts said, “Since most jurisdictions cannot pay police officers what they deserve, providing free homes to them would be a substantial supplement to their salaries and a good tool for recruitment and retention.”

Under the program, police officers would have to pay a down payment of $2,500 and commit to 15 years of service with the department in order to receive a free home, and it would have to be their primary residence. At the end of 15 years they would be given the deed to the home. During the interim, they would be responsible for all taxes, insurance, utilities and maintenance.

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T-Boz Watkins

Amount that Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins of TLC owes in back payments on her Gwinnett County home, according to foreclosure docs filed in December: $532,500

Square footage of the home, which is located in Sugarloaf Country Club: 10,000

Amount in back rent owed by NeNe Leakes, one of the “Real Housewives of Atlanta,” and her husband when they were evicted in September: $6,240

Amount that “Real Housewife” Sheree Whitfield is asking for her suburban Atlanta home, which was recently put on the market: $2.8 million

Dollar amount of a check that Whitfield recently bounced: $346.61

Amount that Whitney Houston’s stepmother is seeking from the pop diva after Houston allegedly kept her late father’s $1 million insurance policy — rather than pay off his mortgage: $723,000

Sale price of the home of “American Idol” winner Fantasia Barrino, which was put up for auction after she failed to repay money loaned to her to pay property taxes: $1.1 million

(Photo courtesy Wikimedia Commons)

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D.L. Bennett of the AJC has an article that addresses what many of us have assumed — the intown building boom is hitting the skids. The rush to build homes to welcome the influx of new residents was broadsided by the foreclosure and credit and resulted in shuttered-up houses and dwindling property values.

Says Ben at Terminal Station:

The combination of factors hitting these areas is brutal.  First, all the subprime mortgages that got people into these homes in the first place reset and foreclosures follow.  Housing prices plummet, and you might think there would be a wave of people who could get into some infill homes for a great price.  However, tighter credit standards are going to prevent people from getting loans, and the cratering economy will further depress things.  So these homes will just sit empty for who knows how long.

The city has received $12 million to buy foreclosures, but it will barely make a dent in the problem. I don’t really know what sort of policy solutions are available. There needs to be an infusion of capital somewhere to buy these houses and get them occupied. I know some folks who are buying up cheap houses (~$30k), renovating them, and renting them to people with Section 8 vouchers. The problem is that this is not a recipe for revitalization. Instead, it can become a recipe for concentrated poverty and can prevent new residents from wanting to move in. I’m not enthusiastic about an infusion of capital of this sort, but it is probably the only sort of private capital available.

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In late September, the City of Atlanta announced that it expected to receive at least $12.3 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to acquire and redevelop abandoned and foreclosed homes and residential properties.

The city’s Community Development/Human Resources committee met yesterday to discuss the issue.

Odette Yousef of WABE reports:

At a committee worksession, housing bureau officials gave the conservative estimate that the funds could be used to get homeowners into 157 homes. The city hopes that those homeowners will get mortgages that will help replenish the fund, up to 70%… and that could help save 100 or so more homes.

While that’s definitely a help, it won’t be enough to solve the problem. Yousef says the city reported 27,000 foreclosure filings between January 2006 and July of 2008. To hear and read the report, visit WABE’s site.

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This is a Soapbox submission by a guest blogger.

Trouble in Paradise

By Hannah Palmer

When ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” came to Stumptown, I was just as excited as everyone else at the office. The project site was one block from my high school, on a street where I had trick-or-treated, babysat and toilet-papered houses. Ahyoka Drive was one of the nicest streets in a low income neighborhood, which, by 2005, wasn’t saying much.

During the shoot, I cruised by to get a glimpse of the action. It was winter and through the naked trees I could see the construction zone, surrounded by cranes and lit up like a movie set. People with bullhorns and Starbucks were moving about purposefully. People from LA!

I even tuned in to the Sunday night broadcast to get a look at the interior, “meet” the family and share in the community-wide freakout. And I’ve cruised by a few times since the “dream house” was finished and the cameras cleared out. With its turrets and archways and copper gutters, the place looks like nothing else in Clayton County. It inspires gawking.

So now Lake City’s “Extreme Makeover” home is making the news again. I saw the headlines and thought, great. One more embarrassing story to put Stumptown in the national news. I was worried by the grouchy remarks of Lake City Mayor Willie Oswalt who said, “It’s aggravating. You do that much work, and they just squander it.”

He’s “aggravated.” The Harper family is losing their home. I thought a touch more compassion would be appropriate. And what did he think would happen? That they would live happily ever after? (more…)

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VACANCY: Atlanta police have a new burglary unit dedicated to monitoring houses that have been foreclosed or abandoned, as copper thieves grow in numbers and audacity.

CITY COUNCIL: Wants to keep Fire Station No. 7 open.

SOUTH BY NORTHWEST: Northwest Airlines tells its employees that it may move up to 400 jobs to Atlanta.

JACKSON COUNTY: Gets state approval to sell discounted gas to the county’s nine municipalities, the first county in Georgia to do so.

BLUE JEAN BANDITS: Five suspects are arrested.

WITHOUT A PADDLE: Fifty thousand tons of sewage spill into the ground in Gainesville, entering a tributary of Balus Creek.

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Home foreclosures in United States in March: 234,685

Home foreclosures in Georgia in March: 11,047

Percent increase from February 2008: 44.8

Percent increase from March 2007: 63.2

Number of states with more home foreclosures than Georgia in March: 3

Percentage drop in home sales reported by Atlanta-based homebuilder Ashton Woods in early 2008: 32.1

Number of property liens filed against Atlanta home developer Hedgewood Properties in the first quarter of 2008: 75

Number of liens filed against Hedgewood in 2007: 86

Sources: Atlanta Business Chronicle, U.S. Census Bureau, RealtyTrac.com, 11Alive.com

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What you’re looking at above is not a map showing which states had the hottest summers, most incidences of horrendous animal-cruelty cases, or even political leanings. This map, dear reader, is a state-by-state illustration of foreclosure increases in the nation. The redder you are, the more you had. Note Georgia.

According to RealtyTrac.com — where this map came from — Georgia is ranked fourth in the nation for foreclosure filings in August 2007, up 133.47 percent since the previous year. One out of every 271 households filed for foreclosure.

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Alyssa Abkowitz is off to Gotham City for postgraduate Lois Lane studies at Columbia University’s acclaimed School of Journalism. Alyssa has been a pillar of Creative Loafing reporting for three years. Prior to that, she interned with us while attending Emory University.

Alyssa goes out on a roll — her cover story this week, “The Student Trap,” exposes what the promotional material doesn’t tell you about American InterContinental University. Alyssa’s reporting has focused on those issues that dramatically impact the lives of urban residents (our readers), from AIDS to the “Middle-Class Squeeze” to getting the first media hit on Atlanta’s soaring foreclosure problem. And, she’s been a bulldog at uncovering problems in the management of the Atlanta Police Department — her reports on an overused disorderly conduct ordinance that pumped up statistics for the police brass but did little to fight crime resulted in City Council repealing the law.

Golly, darn, we’re gonna miss you, Alyssa.

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According to a story on CNNMoney.com, Atlanta’s 30310 ZIP code is second only to one in Cleveland as the single ZIP code with the most foreclosures over the past three months.

Cleveland’s 44105 ZIP code had 783 foreclosures, followed by Atlanta’s 30310 (southwest Atlanta) with 709. According to the story:

Many Sun-Belt buyers bought their high-priced houses using 2/28 adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) which featured very low initial, or “teaser,” rates that reset much higher after the first two years of fixed payments.

But ARMs are best used … as credit-repair products. They’re set up for borrowers to show they can keep up mortgage payments and then refinance out into affordable fixed-rate loans after two years.

Many buyers used ARMs to get into a house with little regard for whether they could afford the payments, betting that rising prices could build enough home equity they could tap for cash.

When prices stabilized or fell, that safety valve disappeared. Owners couldn’t pay monthly bills, and they had no equity to draw on.

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