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82 Kansas RANK: 33 90+ Day Foreclosure Unemployment Delinquency Rate Rate Rate SEPTEMBER 2014 2.02% 1.04% 4.8 YEAR AGO 2.15% 1.31% 5.3 YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -6.1% -20.5% -0.5 Top County GEARY COUNTY 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate SEPTEMBER 2014 3.34% 3.37% YEAR AGO 4.04% 2.28% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -17.3% 47.9% Top Core-Based Statistical Area PARSONS, KS 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate SEPTEMBER 2014 5.55% 3.03% YEAR AGO 3.15% 3.02% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE 76.5% 0.3% note: The 90+ day delinquecy rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans that are seriously delinquent. The foreclosure rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans currently in foreclosure. State rank is based on the September 2014 foreclosure rate. All figures are rounded to the nearest decimal. The unemployment rate reflects preliminary September 2014 figures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. All other data courtesy of LPS Data & Analytics. Michigan RANK: 41 90+ Day Foreclosure Unemployment Delinquency Rate Rate Rate SEPTEMBER 2014 1.98% 0.73% 7.2 YEAR AGO 2.29% 1.08% 8.8 YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -13.5% -32.0% -1.6 Top County GRATIOT COUNTY 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate SEPTEMBER 2014 3.60% 2.07% YEAR AGO 3.48% 1.96% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE 3.5% 5.7% Top Core-Based Statistical Area ALMA, MI 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate SEPTEMBER 2014 3.60% 2.07% YEAR AGO 3.48% 1.96% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE 3.5% 5.7% note: The 90+ day delinquecy rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans that are seriously delinquent. The foreclosure rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans currently in foreclosure. State rank is based on the September 2014 foreclosure rate. All figures are rounded to the nearest decimal. The unemployment rate reflects preliminary September 2014 figures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. All other data courtesy of LPS Data & Analytics. IN THE NEWS Real Estate Developer Pays $3.1M for Blighted Property Bundle in Detroit Wayne County, Michigan, sold a bundle of more than 6,000, distressed and blighted properties to a single bidder for more than $3 million in a recent tax foreclosure auction, according to Wayne County Chief Deputy Treasurer David Szymanski. Eco Solutions, the party that made the winning bid, was represented by Detroit-area casino developer Herb Strather. For the sum of slightly more than $3.1 million, Eco pur- chased a package of 6,365 parcels from Wayne County in the auction, an average of close to $500 per parcel. Strather, who was born and raised in Detroit, has been a well-known real estate developer around the city for more than 40 years. He is the founder and CEO of Strather Academy, which trains urban real estate developers. e academy's mission, according to its website, is "To train the next generation of Detroit real estate entrepreneurs who will rebuild and re-establish Detroit as a world class metropolis." According to Szymanski, Eco provided an additional down payment of $315,850 (about 10 percent of the winning bid) in addition to its original deposit of $25,000. In the week before the auction, Strather surprised county officials by bidding on the bundle of blighted properties. He placed the bid anonymously. e bundle includes vacant lots, residen- tial units, and commercial property. Some of the properties can be renovated, but many of the blighted homes will need to be demol- ished. Strather has announced to the media that he has a five-year, $2 billion plan for developing some of the properties while raz- ing others. e county set a deadline of two weeks to work out a development plan with Strather for the bundle of properties. "We have commenced discussion regard- ing an acceptable development agreement," Szymanski said. e auction was part of an aggressive fore- closure campaign in Wayne County, where Detroit is the county seat, that includes about 75,000 properties. e number of foreclosure starts in Wayne County has been steadily in- creasing over the last three years. e county has the authority to initiate foreclosure when a homeowner is three years or more behind on paying property taxes. Szymanski said that foreclosure is not necessarily the county's goal, however; the goal is to clean up the town by removing blight and at the same time provide assistance or resources to help homeowners keep their homes. Szymanski said of the 56,000 homes Wayne County began foreclosure proceed- ings on last year, the process was completed on only about 20,000 of them, meaning the county helped more than half of those 56,000 homeowners stay in their homes and avoid foreclosure. Michigan County Launches Aggressive Foreclosure Campaign Wayne County, Michigan, is launching an aggressive campaign to begin foreclosure proceedings on 75,000 residential properties whose owners are three years or more behind on paying property taxes. By comparison, Wayne County began the foreclosure process on 56,000 homes last year, 42,000 in 2012, and 26,000 in 2011. e majority of the 75,000 homes targeted for foreclosure are located in Detroit, which is the county seat of Wayne County. e county's goal is not necessar- ily to complete the foreclosure process on these properties, however. Wayne County Treasurer David Szymanski said that of the 56,000 homes the county began the fore- closure process on last year, the process was completed on only 20,000 of them, meaning that the county helped 36,000 of them stay in their homes. Szymanski said there are three reasons for the county's latest aggressive foreclo- sure campaign: to help homeowners find a successful solution that allows them to stay in their homes, to eliminate blight, and to enroll eligible homeowners who are behind on their mortgage or taxes in the state's "Step Forward" program. "e earlier in the process we contact a distressed taxpayer, the more likely we are to find a successful resolution," Szymanski said. "e earlier we contact them, the more options they have available." Detroit's population has been steadily declining in the last 60 years or so, from a peak of about 1.8 million in 1950 down to about 700,000 in the 2010 census, resulting

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