The Voice of San Diego reports from California. "After a dozen people spoke to the devastating effects of foreclosures in the region in Thursday's meeting of the City-County Reinvestment Task Force, one San Diego man told his own story. Andy Sobel said he's facing foreclosure on his east San Diego condo, which he financed 100 percent in July 2004."

"He said unsound lending practices landed him in that spot, and sighs from housing counselors illustrated their statements that they're hearing from 10 such homeowners a week. But testimony from the mortgage lending side said blame shouldn't be laid at the general foot of the industry."

"'We don't feel that there are any bad loans out there,' said Rob McNelis, a mortgage broker and Realtor who represented the San Diego chapter of the California Association of Mortgage Brokers at the meeting. 'There are loans used in improper ways for the wrong people...And unfortunately, there are some unscrupulous brokers who took advantage of that.'"

The Union Tribune. "San Diego County neighborhoods with large minority populations have been especially hard hit with foreclosures and risky subprime loans, members of the San Diego City-County Reinvestment Task Force were told yesterday."

"Steve Bouton, an El Cajon banking consultant, said his analysis of census tracts showed a clear pattern of subprime loans, higher-priced loans for people with tarnished credit or low incomes who are considered greater risks."

"Andy Sobel of Rolando told the task force his lender was of little help when he began going through foreclosure on a one-bedroom condo he had purchased for $240,000. Sobel is trying to resolve his situation with a short sale."

"Sobel took out first and second mortgages with adjustable rates to buy his home. He said he was forced to stop making payments when they began adjusting upward and the value of the condo declined."

"'They are going to help me now, but it is kind of too late,' he told the task force. 'I am losing my home I bought in 2004. I should not have been put in this loan.'"

The Tracy Press. "Life will likely get tougher for those who hope to get out of the shadow of looming foreclosures, according to some mortgage and real estate professionals."

"'There are no products now available for people to get out of these loans,' said Scott Thompson of Mortgage Resolution Services in Carmichael."

"Thompson said that he is especially critical of a mortgage industry that sold nontraditional loans, such as interest-only 100 percent loans, to people who didn’t understand the risk. 'By any measure, the mortgage industry is failing miserably,' he said."

"Thompson said the sub-prime loans have a place in the world of home loans, but not in a market where prices are flat and nobody is building equity. 'The problem is about to get progressively worse,' he said. 'In the Central Valley, the use of this loan product was higher than the national average, so this area will get hit very hard.'"

"Local real estate broker Ron Cedillo agreed that it’s getting tougher as lenders are stricter than ever on home loans. 'What I’m finding is the programs that were available six months to a year ago have shut down now,' he said."

"The latest numbers from RealtyTrac show 837 homes are in some stage of foreclosure in Tracy."

Inside Bay Area. "Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pledged at least $20 billion to help homeowners caught in the subprime meltdown, but those in the Bay Area could be left out."

"The loan limit on government-sponsored enterprise loans for single-family homes in California is $417,000. The Bay Area's median home price in March was $639,000, according to DataQuick."

"Since the loan caps are made by the federal government, there's little Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac can do, said Fannie Mae spokesman Alfred King. 'It's going to be tough in some areas like yours,' King said."

"'It's cruelly cosmetic for California,' said Ed Leamer, director of the University of California, Los Angeles Anderson Forecast. 'It's just restructuring, not debt forgiveness.' Leamer said that even $40 billion is too small to make a difference."

"'This is going to be a drop in the bucket,' said Kevin Stein, associate director for the California Reinvestment Coalition based in San Francisco. 'This is not something available to the people who have been the most victimized.'"

The Sacramento Bee. "A housing slump that has wiped out countless millions of dollars in Sacramento-area home equity is soon to give a few million back."

"Letters to 50,000 Sacramento County homeowners are being mailed today announcing cuts of up to 10 percent in their fall property tax bills, said Sacramento County Assessor Kenneth Stieger."

"Thousands more homeowners in other area counties may see similar rollbacks. Yolo County officials say they may review up to 10,000 properties, and Placer County officials are eyeing recently built homes in Lincoln and Roseville."

"Most of the homes that could see rollbacks were purchased during the housing boom. In Sacramento County, for example, median sales prices for all new and existing homes are at December 2004 levels, according to La Jolla-based DataQuick."

"The rollbacks signal a repeat of the 1990s when recession and job losses pushed down area housing values and 30 percent of Sacramento County homeowners received property tax relief."

"Stieger said nearly two years of falling prices have pushed many home values below their purchase prices. Most of the 50,000 affected homeowners will see reductions of 5 percent to 10 percent, he said. 'It's only right that taxpayers in that situation receive the tax break,' said Stieger, a 22-year veteran of the Assessor's Office. 'The ones with the largest decreases will be those who bought in early 2005.'"

"Placer County Assessor Bruce Dear said he believes the bulk of reassessments "will come from starter housing, primarily Roseville, Lincoln, maybe a little bit of the Rocklin area. 'We're probably going to see instances of market value deterioration from a few percent to, it's possible, 10 to 15 percent,' he said."

"Each percentage point represents about $2 million, according to the Assessor's Office, meaning Sacramento County will see revenue fall by about $12 million for the fiscal year that begins July 1."

"With home prices still falling, next year likely will be worse, said Geoff Davey, the county's CFO. 'A year ago we were starting to see signs of it. Now we're really into it,' he said."

"'I'm afraid many entities in this region that get the majority of revenue from property taxes have been reliant on growth that's not sustainable,' Davey said."

The Modesto Bee. "Apartment rents remain relatively flat throughout the Northern San Joaquin Valley, according to just-released statistics from the RealFacts research group."

"When rents are as low as they are in places such as Modesto, 'renting is the wisest economic decision,' Bates said. 'Though homeownership is the American dream, just in terms of dollars and cents renting is more economical.'"