Maryland foreclosure rates continues to climb; state housing chief blames employer cutbacks

Maryland foreclosure rates continue to climb

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Maryland’s property foreclosure rate continues to climb, jumping 13.4 percent in the final quarter of 2009 over the preceding quarter.

There were 16,788 foreclosure filings — which include notices of default, foreclosure sales and lender purchases of foreclosed properties — between October and December 2009. The figure represents a 67.4 percent increase over the same period in 2008. Maryland has the 10th highest foreclosure rate in the country for the quarter.

Maryland Housing Secretary Raymond Skinner told a House of Delegates Committee Thursday that many of the current foreclosures involve people who were approved for home loans based on incomes that included lots of overtime pay or earnings from a second job, or whose employers have cut their hours.