By Ovetta Wiggins
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, July 17, 2007

More than 700 homes were in foreclosure in Montgomery County between April and June of this year, up from 49 during the same period last year, said Maryland Labor Secretary Tom Perez, offering a sobering picture yesterday of how the surge in foreclosures is affecting the affluent county.

"The foreclosure bug has infected Montgomery County, and it is time to apply some medicine to cure the problem," Perez said.

County officials are teaming up with the state to provide advice and assistance to home buyers on mortgages and refinancing.

"An informed consumer is a better-protected consumer, so we want to ensure that our new-home buyers and those homeowners who may be refinancing are protected to the greatest extent possible," County Executive Isiah Leggett (D) said yesterday.

Leggett joined Perez at a news conference in Rockville to discuss the rising tide of foreclosures in Maryland, and more specifically in Montgomery, and the measures the state is taking to help counties deal with the problem.

Perez said a task force was formed recently to come up with a plan to educate people about homeownership, including ways to avoid foreclosure, and to assist homeowners in jeopardy of losing their homes. The task force will also review existing laws and regulations to determine whether they need to be reformed and make recommendations to Gov. Martin O'Malley (D).

"Governor O'Malley has outlined a plan for the new Maryland Homeownership Preservation Task Force that will move Maryland forward as a leader in foreclosure prevention," Perez said. He added that his Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation and other state agencies will also work with local governments, industry representatives and community groups to help Maryland consumers navigate the sometimes-confusing world of mortgage products and help them learn where to turn for help if they are victims of a scam.

Maryland's foreclosure ranking jumped from 40th in the nation last year to 18th in June, according to Perez.

Prince George's County continues to have the highest percentage of homes in foreclosure in Maryland. More than 2,300 foreclosures have been recorded in the county this year.

Prince George's is working with a nonprofit group to assist homeowners on the brink of foreclosure. The foreclosure crisis center opened last month.

Jim Keary, a Prince George's spokesman, said the county is also working closely with the state Department of Housing.

"A lot of times people don't know where to go, and their only need is information, a little bit of time or to talk to their creditors," Keary said.

In Montgomery, there were more foreclosures in the first quarter of this year than in all of 2006.

"Sometimes there's a perception that a place like Montgomery County is immune to something like this," Leggett said in an interview after the news conference.

He said at times people can be "lulled into a false sense of security. . . . And unless we are proactive and give people the assistance they need, we will find more victims."

Leggett said he does not envision pushing for legislation to address the growing problem on a statewide level.

"The state has more resources than we do," he said, noting that it has oversight over the real estate and mortgage industries.

Leggett said the county might review its predatory lending laws "to see if there is more we can do."

Montgomery plans to hold a public forum, "Your Home, Your Money," from 7 to 9 p.m. tomorrow at the Rockville Library, 21 Maryland Ave., to discuss subprime mortgages, foreclosures, refinancing and settlement charges.

Anyone interested in attending should call 240-777-3764.