© Reuters/Joe SkipperA member of the protest group Occupy Fort Lauderdale Foreclosure Mobilization, who identified himself as "Peace", sits in front of a home owned by 84-year-old Adeline Pierre in North Miami Beach, Florida, March 28, 2012. The Occupy group hopes to stop a pending eviction order on Pierre, who has lived with her family for 20 years in the home.
US: Garfield Heights, Ohio - Half a decade into the deepest U.S. housing crisis since the 1930s, many Americans are hoping the crisis is finally nearing its end. House sales are picking up across most of the country, the plunge in prices is slowing and attempts by lenders to claim back properties from struggling borrowers dropped by more than a third in 2011, hitting a four-year low.
But a painful part two of the slump looks set to unfold: Many more U.S. homeowners face the prospect of losing their homes this year as banks pick up the pace of foreclosures.
"We are right back where we were two years ago. I would put money on 2012 being a bigger year for foreclosures than 2010," said Mark Seifert, executive director of Empowering & Strengthening Ohio's People (ESOP), a counseling group with 10 offices in Ohio.
"Last year was an anomaly, and not in a good way," he said.
In 2011, the "robo-signing" scandal, in which foreclosure documents were signed without properly reviewing individual cases, prompted banks to hold back on new foreclosures pending a settlement.
Five major banks eventually struck that settlement with 49 U.S. states in February. Signs are growing the pace of foreclosures is picking up again, something housing experts predict will again weigh on home prices before any sustained recovery can occur.
Comment: For the real deal on 'exorcisms' read Malachai Martin's Hostage to the Devil and Laura Knight Jadczyk's High Strangeness