watch video Link to transcript channel 8 news interview

Aired Monday October 2, 2006 11PM evening channel 8 news

Channel 8 News KFMB STATION SAN DIEGO, CA .

How many people got in with 0 percent down and have subsequently been refinanced? It’s scary, he said.

Mortgage default notices in San Diego County are up to the highest figure in seven years. According to Data Quick Information Systems, numbers for the third

quarter list between 2,100 and 2,200 notices of default were mailed to homeowners whove missed one or more mortgage payments.

That means business for Arnie Levine, a realtor who sells foreclosed property. With the increase notices of default, it creates more

opportunity for sellers to come to us for help, Levine said. As of last week, there were 22,000 homes and condos listed for sale in the county.

At this time what I can see, a combination of notices of default and actually bank owned property is approximately 400, he said.

Levine added that number is not excessively high, and Data Quick says only one-tenth of all default notices actually lead to foreclosure. But a lot of people are at risk.

The people who bought a year ago that have adjustable rate mortgages, those mortgages are potentially clammy, he said.

Adjustable loans begin with low interest rates, then payment shock as rates go up that can double a mortgage.

My opinion is that there’s going to be a slide starting right around now — it’s already started. I believe within a year we’re going to have a

whole bunch of foreclosures, Shepner said. But Levine counters, saying the decrease of interest rates is going to affect the market to come back.

Federal regulators have directed banks to fully explain to borrowers the risks involved, from interest-only and other non-traditional mortgages.