America is in the grip of a foreclosure crisis with bank foreclosure listings rising with each passing day. There was a slim hope that following the measures taken by the Bush government the number of bank foreclosure listings would stop its onward march. Bank foreclosure listings held its line in November (although far higher than what it was in 2006) but after the Christmas holidays the number of bank foreclosure listings are on the rise.

The accusing finger points to the sub-prime mortgage for this crisis. The banks have been the major lenders and as such these foreclosure lists are generally referred to as bank foreclosure listings. The doling out of easy loans during the housing boom has now made a turnabout with an equal number of bank foreclosure listings. Those unable to bear the burden of increased interest rates fail to pay their mortgage dues and when this happens a consecutive number of times the bank sends a notice. The property is included in the bank foreclosure listings with foreclosure proceedings being started against it.

The bank foreclosure listings have to be inserted in prominent daily newspaper. This has led to scammers who scout the newspaper for bank foreclosure listings. Making use of the information these wolves in grandmother’s clothes knock on the door of the vulnerable borrowers and pick the bones clean pretending to be helpers. The authorities are repeatedly giving out warnings and also legally penalizing them.

The alarming rise of bank foreclosure listings has led the city of Cleveland to sue more than 20 banks for duping the public with shady predatory loans and in short being public nuisances. All the details have come to light from these bank foreclosure listings showing how much the banks – the big giants have been preying on the susceptible. The houses marked by bank foreclosure listings ultimately stand for court auction. Those who attend the auction get the information about the house from bank foreclosure listings. The bidders come with sheets of these bank foreclosure listings having marked the ones they are interested. The houses included in the bank foreclosure listings cannot be thoroughly inspected before the auction. These are sold on an as is basis. There may be many tax liens on the property. The inside might be vandalized and beyond repair. Sometimes it may be a bargain but at other times it may turn out to be a bad gamble