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The number of foreclosed properties on sale in New Jersey has been rising and now getting more attention from state officials and housing advocates.

As shown in a recently released report on nationwide foreclosures for the July to September quarter, New Jersey had over 18,000 of its households notified of default and foreclosure. With a foreclosure rate of one in every 193 residential units, New Jersey ranked 15th among states based on pace of foreclosure.

What is also disturbing about New Jersey is the rate of its increase in foreclosure rate. While its foreclosure rate in the July to September quarter was just around one-percent higher than its rate last year, it was higher than the previous quarter by a staggering 44.6 percent. This means that while the state was not significantly affected at the start of the foreclosure crisis, it is now experiencing difficulties that are driving more residents to foreclosure.

Another serious problem that has reached the offices of housing advocates is the unlawful eviction of tenants from foreclosed properties on sale.

According to officials at the Public Advocate Department of New Jersey, they have already helped over 160 renters who were being evicted illegally from properties in foreclosure. Some renters were being notified by bank representatives that they had to move out of the premises immediately while others were being evicted by sheriffs or were seeing their utilities cut off.

There are laws against unlawful eviction in New Jersey, but banks and real estate agents have been successful in evicting renters because many renting families are not aware that anti-eviction laws exist.

To protect renters throughout the state, the Public Advocate Department has launched a statewide campaign to inform renters about anti-eviction laws and their rights as tenants. They are making renters aware that they have the right to refuse coercive methods such as cash-for-keys, particularly if the cash being offered does not even fully cover the security deposits and advance rents paid.

The department has also notified utility companies to continue providing service to renters even if property owners have stopped paying the bills.

Ronald Chen, who became the first New Jersey Public Advocate in 13 years, issued a proposal that would make renters more prepared in case of foreclosure. He recommended that the courts require lenders to notify renters of the pending foreclosure before courts allow the rentals to become foreclosed properties on sale.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) released its data showing that cheap foreclosed house for sale abound in military bases across the country. This means that foreclosure rates in military bases are four times higher than the average rate.

VA also noted that because of the high foreclosure activity, the number of military veterans with no home also rose. To prevent the further increase in homeless rate among veterans, VA launched a five-year program designed to alleviate the homelessness problem among veterans. The agency pledged about 3.2 billion dollars to address the problem that has been plaguing many veterans who served in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki explained that no military veterans who served the country should ever be without a roof on their heads. Industry experts said that previous programs of VA focused on helping homeless veterans. However, with the current program, the focus would be in prevention and at the same time, rescuing veterans from homelessness.

Market data showed that out of 24 million military veterans in the country, 131,000 have no homes, with twice the numbers becoming homeless every year. An estimated 3 percent of these homeless military veterans have served in Afghanistan or Iraq. Results of a study conducted in 2007 showed that Afghanistan and Iraq war veterans lost their homes faster compared with other veterans.

Homeless experts and government officials are concerned that the number of cheap foreclosed house for sale in military bases would increase by as much as 15 percent due to the current economic downturn.

Experts said that veterans are one of the sectors in the society badly hit by the recession. And with unemployment rate more than 12 percent now, the prognosis on their situation remains bleak.

The VA has pledged to provide about $400 million to support initiatives that will prevent homelessness. The agency plans to expand its partnerships with the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Small Business Administration and other veterans programs in the federal, state and local levels. VA also plans to help businesses owned by veterans in qualifying for government contracts and overcoming the current economic downturn.

Industry experts applauded the current efforts of the VA to prevent homelessness and the spread of cheap foreclosed house for sale in military bases.

It is a fact that cheap foreclosed home for sale is bad news for neighborhoods, especially if they are not being maintained by their owners. Three cities in California passed laws that would prevent abandoned and vacant properties from becoming eyesores in communities and havens for vandals and criminals.

The city of Burlington in Vermont has received over $1.3 million in federal grant to buy cheap foreclosed home on sale, fix and convert them into affordable housing.

A property in foreclosure in downtown Oakland, California – a high-rise condo building called The Ellington – features units that are now available at prices about 31 percent lower than their sales prices before the foreclosure.

Amidst the growing number of cheap foreclosed homes on sale in South Florida, some entrepreneurs found a way to help others save their properties from foreclosures. Others capitalized on low prices to purchase properties.

September home sales in Florida rose significantly making it 13 months of consecutive sales increases in the state. And cheap foreclosed house sales continued to have a sizable share in the total home sales.

The increasing number of foreclosed property on sale has undermined the progress made for the Western region recovery, according to the September 2009 Federal Reserve Board’s San Francisco, California unit’s report on the regional economic conditions. The regional study is conducted by the agency eight times in one year.

The housing market has not yet recovered from the devastating effects of the foreclosure crisis and already, another bleak prognosis is coming its way again. Industry experts are predicting that the continuing increase in the number of cheap foreclosed houses for sale will pull down home prices further to a record low.

Many residents of Spring Garden Township in York County, Pennsylvania took time to attend a sheriff’s sale. However, they were not there to make a bid for foreclosure property for sale but to listen to York County Sheriff Richard P. Keuerleber as he gave out details about local properties on the market for sale.