By JODI SOKOLOWSKI
Buffalo Law Journal

Homeowner advocates are concerned that widely reported figures on foreclosures in the region are misleading.

Staff at the Western New York Law Center Inc. noticed an inconsistency between first-quarter 2008 foreclosure data reported by RealtyTrac Inc. and the data they gathered from the Erie County Clerk's Office.

The RealtyTrac numbers, they said, omitted lis pendens, or the filings that start the foreclosure process for a property. A RealtyTrac spokesman confirmed that independent abstractors in the region did not include lis pendens in the data they reported for RealtyTrac.

"Our concern is that RealtyTrac is often cited as the basis for comparison of foreclosure data on a national basis," said Kathleen Lynch, a staff attorney at the WNYLC, which is conducting its own study on foreclosures and home loans. "If the data is inaccurate, it may inaccurately place Buffalo as 97 out of 100 municipalities (in terms of) foreclosures filed."

Daren Blomquist, RealtyTrac's marketing communications manager, said he believes abstractors have begun collecting lis pendens data. "We have revised the third-quarter (2008) foreclosure report on our Web site to note that the Buffalo actual total and foreclosure rate may be higher because of limited data coverage," he noted in an e-mail response.

"It does impact the data, because it would make the foreclosure rate, at least the way we measure it, lower than it appears," he said. The Irvine, Calif.-based company, founded in 1996, reports foreclosure data quarterly for 2,200 out of 3,100 U.S. counties.

Blomquist believes the Erie County reports are the only ones affected by the inconsistency in methodology.

"I honestly don't remember any other specific instance where the data we provided was identified as having omissions," he wrote in an e-mailed reply.

"Using incorrect household data skews the figures by making the situation look better than it actually is," said Joy McDuffie, the Law Center's geographic information systems analyst. That could result in less government aid for the region, Lynch added.

Lynch said that while foreclosure numbers were down slightly in Erie County for the first quarter of the year, the county has seen a significant and consistent increase in filings over the last few years.

When population is taken into account, the nearly 3,000 foreclosures Erie County saw in 2007 represent a foreclosure rate that's 64 percent higher than the New York City metro area saw with its nearly 14,000 foreclosures, McDuffie explained. Moreover, the Big Apple has seen high demand and skyrocketing property values, while Buffalo has a large stock of undesirable housing with diminishing worth.

"Ten foreclosures in a block in Buffalo could have a much greater impact than in New York City, where the chance of reselling (a property) is better," Lynch said.

According to the WNYLC's analysis, one in 84 occupied Buffalo homes received lis pendens notifications in 2007, compared to one out of 108 total housing units that could eventually be foreclosed on.

Lynch said it's important to determine, as the Law Center study is attempting to do, which types of loans are most likely to lead to foreclosure. With the assistance of AmeriCorps Vista volunteers, its staff is analyzing 2006-2008 foreclosures and loans. The 14215 ZIP code is emerging as the area with the most foreclosures.

"It's either going to be a stable area, if we intervene now, or the same things happening on William Street will happen there," said Lynch, who's also coordinator of Buffalo's Anti-Flipping Task Force. "We have to pay careful attention to that area now."

Lynch cited local and statewide efforts including Operation Protect Your Home and $2 million in state Block-by-Block grants that will aid in the renovation of 74 Buffalo homes. Nationally, the American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Prevention Act, HR 3221, would provide mortgage refinancing assistance to prevent homeowners from losing their homes.

New York State Court of Appeals Chief Judge Hon. Judith Kaye was scheduled to announce a new court program Wednesday in response to record level mortgage foreclosure filings in state courts.