Las Vegas NowNorth Las Vegas Zip Code 1 of 10 Worst For Foreclosures

North Las Vegas Zip Code 1 of 10 Worst For Foreclosures

A zip code-by-zip code analysis found that an area of North Las Vegas has one of the nation's 10 worst rates of home foreclosure. Our area has 8 in the top 100, and according to the numbers from Realty Trac, we also have 24 zip codes in the top 500.

The largest number of foreclosures in our area have occurred in the North Las Vegas zip code 89031 -- the 8th worst in the nation. 89131, 89148, and 89129 also ranked in the top 50.

Eric Banks moved to Las Vegas from California a few years ago. Work was steady, it was a buyer's market, so he bought a home in Summerlin. Today, he is close to losing his home to foreclosure, because he can't make the mortgage payments. 

"The only option is to sell or foreclose," said Banks. He lives in a neighborhood he loves, but the home he lives in won't be his for much longer.

"I'm unable to make the payments. I'm watching the value of my house drop," he said. He's missed his mortgage payment twice and says there is nothing he can do about it.  

"I am one of those people who got into a house when I was making a good deal of money and over the last year I've seen my income drop by 60- 70%," said Banks. 

Adjustable rate mortgages or ARMS are also part of the problem. They're expected to increase even more by October. That increase is forcing homeowners to pay higher monthly mortgage payments compared to a few years ago. Today, Banks put his home on the market.  

"It's stressful, upsetting, depressing," he said.

Eric Auger specializes in foreclosures and sees cases like this every day. He concentrates on short sale properties. Auger says very few homeowners know how short sales work.

"It's a way to sell the property before it goes to foreclosure, saving the buyer's credit. Short sales allows the lender to re-coup more of what they loaned, because the expenses are a lot less," said Auger.

An option that could work for Banks, but for now he is trying things on his own. As of today, his house is on the market.

If a homeowner does chose the short sale option, there is always the possibility of them not making any money at all, but it gets them out of a bind and possibly helps save their credit rating.