News

It's the first week of school at Wright State University, and Cathy Davis has good reason to believe this year is going to be a busy one.

"We've seen an increase in transfer applications each year, but this year there's been a significant increase in applications we've received," says Davis, the Director of Admissions at Wright State.

From our public forum on Aug. 20, 2009 discussing foreclosure, mortgage problems and struggling neighborhoods.

This weekend, communities are coming together in Dayton to show there's still some life in economically depressed areas. For the past year, Dayton, Cleveland, Youngstown and Canton have been laboring under the title fastest dying cities in the country. It was last August that Forbes called them as the walking dead.

As home foreclosures rise, so do the number of people trying to take advantage of those in a bad situation. More and more, scams are popping up across Ohio. In May, the Attorney General's office launched a crackdown on the shady practices. WYSO's Emily McCord reports on the on-going effort.

When a house is for sale, an evaluation is done to determine its value before a loan is made.  Appraisers are trained to make judgments about the value of properties with "boot-on-the-ground" inspections. In the past, a few appraisers were influenced by over zealous brokers and lenders. Now there are new guidelines in place. But are they protecting the consumer or making money for the lender?

For people in the Miami valley who are in trouble with their mortgage payments, a phone call to the lender is often the first step to some sort of a solution.  Many major banks have agreed to work with the Home Affordable Modification Program which was designed to help homeowners stay in their homes. But sometimes when phone calls go unanswered and communication is delayed, foreclosure will proceed.