Kathleen Miller, The Examiner
2008-02-14 08:00:00.0
Current rank: Not ranked

WASHINGTON -

Several suburban Maryland areas were ranked among the hardest hit by foreclosures in the nation just a day after a state appeals court upheld Maryland’s foreclosure process.

RealtyTrac, a California-based company that provides foreclosure filings by metropolitan areas, said the Bethesda, Frederick and Gaithersburg region had the 70th highest foreclosure rate among America’s largest metropolitan areas.

There were 4,179 total filings for foreclosure during the past year in those cities, a 1,288 percent increase over 2006 filings, the biggest jump among the top 100 areas on the list.

Meanwhile, Maryland Court of Appeals Judge Glenn T. Harrell Jr. ruled the state’s foreclosure process was constitutional, rejecting an argument from an Anne Arundel County woman who said she never received warning letters sent to notify her that her home was entering foreclosure.

The state requires that homeowners be notified by regular and certified mail two weeks before a property is sold, but the court’s ruling said the law did not allow homeowners to avoid foreclosure simply because they didn’t receive the letters.

“It is well settled that due process of law is not violated in application because the interested party did not receive actual notice,” the opinion stated.

The court acknowledged the “escalating number of foreclosures” and suggested changes in the foreclosure process could help Maryland residents, but it said it was the legislature’s job to make those changes. Montgomery County officials said they were trying to work with state and federal agencies to see whether they could obtain mortgage information and reach out to people before they enter the foreclosure process. Eric Friedman, director of the county’s office of consumer protection, said “the worst hasn’t happened yet,” explaining that adjustable rate-mortgages that are scheduled to reset between April and October 2008 could send even more homes into foreclosure.

“Clearly there is a nationwide foreclosure crisis, and neither Maryland nor Montgomery County are immune,” Friedman said.

Foreclosed for business

Other areas with a similar foreclosure rate to the Bethesda suburbs:

» No. 68: Bridgeport/Stamford/Norwalk, Conn.: 703 percent

» No. 69: Boston/Quincy, Mass.: 683 percent

» No. 70: Bethesda/Frederick/Gaithersburg, Md.: 682 percent

» No. 71: Albuquerque, N.M.: 651 percent

» No. 72: Knoxville, Tenn.: 607 percent

kmiller@dcexaminer.com