LAT uses foreclosure data to show impact on neighborhood
The Los Angeles Times goes into a distant subdivision in Southern California to show how the housing boom’s bust dashed hopes for many and offered an opportunity for others.
Thomas Curwen, a Pulitzer finalist for feature writing in 2008, gets down to street level to gauge the impact of the real estate crash. He wrote:
“Foreclosures started to sweep through the community, creating a patchwork of disrepair. For Sale signs dotted the streets. Vandals targeted empty homes. Boarded-up windows and weed-choked yards detracted from well-maintained houses with tile roofs, recessed entries and stone and brick detailing.
In the last four years, according to the San Bernardino County assessor’s office, 373 of the 941 single-family homes in Mission Crest — nearly 40% — have been foreclosed on. Thirty-five have gone through foreclosure more than once. Properties that once sold for nearly $400,000 are worth less than $200,000.”
“The LA Times gave me two months to find, report and write this story,” Curwen said. “This included about two weeks canvassing the out-lying regions of Southern California, where the foreclosure crisis is most conspicuous. I spoke to regional economists and home owners in a number of communities like Hesperia, and when I first visited Mission Crest, I knew this was the right development to focus on. I then spent about a month visiting with various families and getting to know them.
“The stories took footwork and time, a formula that is no different from any other feature.”
Today’s Tip: Find the human stories behind foreclosure by visiting ZIP codes with high rates.
To find those areas, you can use RealtyTrac.com. You can also contact your local assessor’s office for data.
Mint.com has an interactive graphic to show the foreclosure changes in the United States.
David Heath with the Huffington Post Investigative Fund gave tips on finding mortgage-fraud victims during the IRE Conference this month.
ProPublica also has a page dedicated to home-loan modifications, including an effort to connect journalists to homeowners seeking modifications.
