Foreclosures Hit 97,303 Homeowners

LA JOLLA —  A total of 97,303 California homeowners found themselves being foreclosed on last year, according to Dataquick Information Systems Inc.

That means one of every 65 homeowners got into trouble in 1991, a rate of 15.4 per 1,000 residential properties, Dataquick said.

The “median” homeowner being foreclosed on was 8.7 months behind on his or her mortgage payments when the notice of default was recorded. The typical home in foreclosure was a 1,386 square-foot home with three bedrooms and two baths, bought in October, 1988.

Roughly half the homeowners that were pulled into the foreclosure process were able to break out of it before the final trustee sale. They did this by either bringing their mortgage payments current, or by selling the property and paying the mortgage off.

“Foreclosures in California increased rapidly during the first half of 1991 and then leveled off,” said Donald E. Cohn, Dataquick’s chief executive officer. “We’re not sure if it’s because of better times or because lending institutions are more willing to negotiate new terms.”