Vermont has largely been spared the foreclosure crisis, ranking lowest among all the states according to RealtyTrac. However the number of foreclosures has more than doubled in the state over the past few years.
In a recent article in the weekly paper Seven Days, staff writer Ken Picard reported that a federal program designed to help prevent foreclosure has caused problems for some Vermonters already struggling to make their payments.
Picard says that part of the problem is a lack of any kind of regulatory oversight and enforcement. Speaking on VPR’s Vermont Edition he told Jane Lindholm that it is just one part of a much larger problem in the housing crisis and the entire financial system, where no one is watching what lenders are doing.
Click on the Listen icon to hear Jane’s interview with Ken Picard and Grace Pazdan, an attorney specializing in foreclosure with Vermont Legal Aid.