On the Record

By: Danny Jacobs

In my story Monday about Baltimore County Circuit Court, I mentioned that foreclosure filings have inundated clerks’ offices at courthouses around the state, and that Prince George’s County has led the state in foreclosures for at least two years.

Unfortunately, I was unable to obtain foreclosure statistics from the clerk’s office in Prince George’s County by my deadline. But I received the data yesterday, and it’s startling.

In 2006, the clerk’s office received 4,148 filings. (That’s more than Baltimore County has ever received.)

In 2007, the clerk’s office in Prince George’s received 7,019 foreclosure filings.

In 2008, the clerk’s office received 8,237 filings.

This year, through Sept. 30, the clerk’s office has received 9,389 filings - and they are projecting 12,000 for the entire calendar.

Obviously, on an individual and family level the increase in foreclosure filings is bad news. But what does it say about the economy as a whole? Are we flushing out all of the toxic mortgages on the road to recovery? Or has news of the recession’s demise been greatly exaggerated?