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section of Ohio law that allows for a court supervised structure for organizing a rent strike against a landlord who refuses to make repairs. In a document, ESOP explained ORC 5321.08 allows tenants to pay rent to the court instead of the landlord, and the landlord must answer to the court for the alleged violations and correct the violations in order to receive the funds. Rather than paying their servicer, the The strike takes its lead from a statutory three Ohio homeowners will pay their principal and interest to an attorney who will hold their payments in an escrow account. Paul Bellamy, director of development Oklahoma rank: 19 90+ Day 2.09% 2.23% -6.3% 90+ Day 3.60% year ago and research at ESOP, said they want to emphasize that the strike is not a way to avoid paying one's mortgage since the participants are current and will continue to pay their principal and interest. Instead, it is a way for borrowers to make their voices heard. Anita Gardner, one of the mortgage strikers, is underwater by around $62,000. The other two, Sally Fluker and George Robinson, are upside down on their mortgage by around $38,000 and $44,000, respectively. According to data from ESOP, 530,000 4.49% percent point change -19.8% 7.4% Top Core-Based Statistical Area FORT SMITH, AR-OK 90+ Day 2.03% year ago 2.49% percent point change -18.4% 14.4% note: The 90+ Day delinquecy rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans that are 90- plus days delinquent. The foreclosure rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans currently in foreclosure. State rank is based on the August 2012 foreclosure rate. All figures are rounded to the nearest decimal. The unemployment rate reflects preliminary August 2012 figures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. All other data courtesy of Lender Processing Services. households, or 25 percent of homeowners, are underwater. Another 125,000 households are on the verge of falling into negative equity. In order to become a mortgage striker, ESOP outlined rules—one of which is that a participant must understand the potential consequences of becoming a striker: impaired credit profile; decrease in FICO credit score; default status; and foreclosure and other litigation. Bellamy said that while foreclosure is a -29.5% 5.89% 3.07% percent point change -19.4% note: The 90+ Day delinquecy rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans that are 90- plus days delinquent. The foreclosure rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans currently in foreclosure. State rank is based on the August 2012 foreclosure rate. All figures are rounded to the nearest decimal. The unemployment rate reflects preliminary August 2012 figures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. All other data courtesy of Lender Processing Services. Delinquency Rate august 2012 6.73% 2.16% year ago 6.03% Foreclosure Rate -41.0% 8.30% 3.61% percent point change -14.8% Top Core-Based Statistical Area BEND, OR 90+ Day Delinquency Rate august 2012 4.86% Foreclosure Rate Delinquency Rate Foreclosure Rate august 2012 3.41% year ago 2.91% percent point change 17.1% Top County ADAIR COUNTY Delinquency Rate august 2012 8.92% 2.13% year ago 8.32% Unemployment Rate 5.1% 6.3% -19.0% Foreclosure Rate Oregon rank: 18 90+ Day 1.95% 2.30% -15.0% 90+ Day Delinquency Rate Foreclosure Rate august 2012 3.58% year ago 3.44% percent point change 4.1% Top County CROOK COUNTY Delinquency Rate august 2012 7.09% Unemployment Rate 8.9% 9.5% -6.3% Foreclosure Rate Oklahoma IN THE NEWS Sterling Savings Bank Faces Labor Litigation possibility, he doesn't anticipate a foreclosure and ESOP will not going to let anyone lose a home. The funds accumulated from the strike will a mortgage striker must be current and underwater, make full payments into an escrow account, cover taxes and insurance, and comply with strike rules for handling monthly payments into escrow. October was the first month the strikers patslack@remax.net RE/MAX PROS PAT SLACK 405.722.3636 405.476.7653 be released to the servicer at the striker's request or if the court orders release of the payment. Aside from understanding the rules, CRS STAT INSIGHT made their payments into an escrow account rather than to their mortgage companies. "The point we're trying to make is not forecast for Oklahoma City in 2016, up $135,000 Median home price about particular servicers or investors or banks; it has to do with a national policy and no one seems to be confronting it," Bellamy said. 102 $10,000 from the current median. Source: HomeValueForecast.com Sterling Savings Bank, based in Washington and with operations in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and California, for allegedly violating federal and state labor laws. According to the complaint filed in an Two mortgage loan officers are suing Oregon federal court, Sterling Savings Bank and Golf Savings Bank denied mortgage loan officers and other mortgage origina- tion employees overtime pay they are due under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). Sterling Savings and Golf Savings merged in 2010. The complaint also alleges that the banks deducted "costs of doing business" from em- ployees' pay. For example, credit report fees and appraisal fees were deducted from loan officers' paychecks. Micah DuBeau and David DuBeau, both from Medford, Oregon, are represented by Kansas-based Rowdy Meeks Legal Group and Oregon-based Johnson Johnson Larson & Schaller. The legal firms plan to try to

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