Residential Foreclosures in the City of Buffalo, 1990-2000 - Federal ...

Moreover, the unpaid balance on mortgage loans provides some indication of the loan-tovalue
ratio at the time of loan origination.
The total judgment amount for Buffalo foreclosures in 2000 was almost $38
million, resulting in an average judgment of $48,744. The average judgment amount in
Rochester in 1998 was estimated to be $56,706, suggesting similarities in the
circumstances confronted by homeowners in the two cities. Chart 13 presents the median
judgment amounts for Buffalo and its communities.
Buffalo
South Buffalo-
River
North Buffalo-
Elmwood
North East
Riverside
East Delavan
West Side-Central
Ellicott-Masten
Chart 13
Median Foreclosure Judgment by Community
Amount
$29,226
$39,844
$39,542
$46,807
Sources: Erie County Civil Court records; author’s calculations.
$55,280
$52,819
59
$64,259
$63,586
East Side
$27,317
0 10,000 20,000 30,000 40,000 50,000 60,000 70,000 80,000
As might be expected, judgment amounts were higher in communities with
higher priced homes, because mortgage loans are likely to be larger in such areas. But
although the amount owed on loans that foreclosed in 2000 on average varied among
communities, the state of those loans tended to be remarkably similar. Table 17 shows the
ratio of median judgment amounts and median loan amounts. Throughout Buffalo, the
typical homeowner had not even made a dent in his or her loan principal at the time of
foreclosure judgment. For the city as a whole, the median judgment amount was 107
percent of the original loan amount, with all communities showing comparable ratios.
These findings suggest that although the circumstances behind individual foreclosures
differ in many ways, the mechanism of those foreclosures may be similar. That is, there
may be commonality in the factors that trigger foreclosures.