From break-ins to foreclosures: Ohio's housing crisis

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Take a look inside Preston Carmichael’s Columbus, Ohio home and you’ll see a mess. Assorted papers scattered across rooms. Boxes turned upside down. Trash everywhere. Carmichael is the victim of burglary. His private space was invaded and violated, when he took a week to attend an out of state family reunion.

“Burglars will be burglars. But is it reflective of someone being out of work and so desperate that they are breaking in and taking other people’s stuff? I don’t wanna think that is the case,” says the 80 year old retiree. “But there certainly seems to be an increase in burglaries and other kinds of criminal activity lately. Lately, meaning since the economy started going sour.”

According to crime statistics released this October by the FBI, Ohio’s violent crime rate saw a decline, while property crimes increased by 1.1 percent. The award for the state’s highest rate for a single city went to Cincinnati, which saw a combination of over 24,000 burglaries, arson cases, and car thefts.

“I was told by someone who looked at the police blogger in the Southeastern area of Columbus, there were 40 break-ins in one day,” says Carmichael as he starts his car.

It puts. Turns off. After a couple times, the ignition reluctantly begins allowing the car to creep out the driveway. Resembling a portion of the public that isn’t financially prepared for residential crime he says, “I live by budget. And if something happens that I haven’t budgeted for, then I have to rearrange things. For example, I did not have a burglary system in my home. Now I have to install one. If I go with what some of the sellers have offered, the cheapest I can come out is around $28-$33 per month, with an initial installation fee. If I went for a better system, then it would cost me $40 or more per month, just to have the house secure. That wasn’t something I budgeted for in January of this year.”

But he adds, “In hindsight, if I had a choice, knowing what my home is, I’d rather have it burglarized. Being aware of the plight of people experiencing foreclosure, the burglary was preferable. I’m not traumatized by the prospect of having no place to go. I am not homeless.”

Foreclosures have become a norm that awakens those from an American dream into a nationwide nightmare. News of Obama’s refinancing plan, comes at a time when countless home owners are underwater, drowning in debt, owing more on their mortgages, than what their homes are worth.

Moody’s Analytics, an economics research firm, predicts 400,000 foreclosures in coming months that will eventually rise to a record 1.5 million in 2012. The president’s new initiative hopes to help reignite the economy by giving jobless property owners a reprieve, and allowing others to refinance or qualify for new loans.

This is part five in a Grio series on the U.S. economy, as seen in several U.S. cities.Columbus resident, George Brown, remembers his days working in, what his company called, ‘Property Preservation.’ “I worked at a company called Safeguard, they were basically the bank. So when you lost your home, they’d send me a slip to gain access. Which basically means, I’d change your locks and take your house from you. I was the bad guy.” he says.

“Some people would be at home, and if they were, we’d just come back. They’d give them a certain amount of time to get their stuff, but if you didn’t, it was on the trailer. But if you weren’t at home when I came to your house, and you didn’t get your stuff out, I would change the locks.”

Drive through the Southfield section of Columbus, Ohio, and you’ll see a predominantly black, lower to middle class neighborhood. Although Carmichael’s street has homes that appear to be fairly presentable, some of the roads that surround his block are filled with dilapidated or empty houses.

“This is still considered part of the inner city. That area you saw is slowly being transformed into an industrial area where big companies will tear down those homes and resurrect businesses. I do know that there are two homeowners still holding out and those [houses] look dilapidated,” he says. “I know properties have been re-evaluated tax wise, and my house has been reappraised and reduced in value between $10,000 to $15,000. You lose money because your house is spending downhill, and of course it’s hard to sell it. And even if you do, you have to sell it at a lower price. So there is some sort of decrease in personal wealth.”

But this isn’t a black thing. Although the focus of this story is on an African-American community with faces of color to illustrate theGrio’s details, be clear on one thing: The American housing crisis spans all races and salaries. The ethnic make-up of those who are unable to pay mortgages on time is as mixed as Obama’s family tree.

“I went to good neighborhoods, bad neighborhoods, houses in the hood and the suburbs,” says Brown, recalling his days locking people out of their homes. He’s since been laid off, after the foreclosure company he worked for went out of business. “Race didn’t matter. It was a million dollar or $30,000 dollar houses.”

“I was talking to a friend in Dayton, Ohio, the other day, who said their children’s entire family has to move back in because they lost their jobs and couldn’t pay for their home,” says Carmichael.

“I don’t know what [Obama’s refinance plan] is going to do in terms of job creation. It doesn’t help me at all because my home wasn’t in a situation where my house was financed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. But I think it’s beneficial for folks.”