"Foreclosure Clusters" Bring Inner-City Crime to the Suburbs

"The thousands of foreclosed homes in recent years in Modesto present a vexing problem for law enforcement officials, including Police Chief Roy Wasden.

Banks aren't watching those properties closely, he said.

In the Northern San Joaquin Valley and other areas across the nation where foreclosures are soaring, law enforcement officials worry that a rise in crime will follow, particularly in neighborhoods with clusters of bank-owned homes.

California ranks second in the nation with one foreclosure filing for every 88 households, according to RealtyTrac Inc., a foreclosure tracking firm.

In the Franklin Reserve neighborhood, full of subdivisions with half-million dollar homes, homeowners are fighting inner-city problems such as gangs, drugs, theft and graffiti.

During the boom, the Sacramento suburb sprouted 10,000 homes in four years, attracting investors from the Bay Area. Now many houses stand empty, weeds overtaking lawns, signs lining the street: "Bank Repo," "For Rent," "No trespassing -- bank-owned property." A typical home's value has dropped from about $570,000 to the low $400,000s.

By one study, when the foreclosure rate increases 1 percentage point, a neighborhood's violent crime rises 2.33 percent.

As defaults surge on mortgages made to borrowers with spotty credit and adjustable-rate loans, more people are noticing that their neighbors are caught up in the meltdown. The effects aren't confined to low-income or redeveloping communities; they are seeping into middle-class neighborhoods and new developments."