California cities among hardest-hit in mortgage mess

Here's a list you don't want to be part of -- the highest level of foreclosures. Yet there they are, a handful of California cities, earning that dubious distinction. Details from Peter Viles on our real estate blog, L.A. Land:

Los Angeles County set Southern California and state records with more than 13,500 notice of default and notice of trustee sale recordings in August, according to Default Research, a provider of pre-foreclosure real estate data out of Mt. Pleasant, Pa.

Since the numbers for the hardest-hit cities don't take size or population into account, they paint only part of the picture. Making the Default Research list, however, were Los Angeles with 2,227; Palmdale, 862;  Lancaster, 783; Long Beach, 506; Compton, 295; Pomona, 294, and Santa Clarita, 282.

RealtyTrac, an online marketplace for foreclosure properties, released its August report of foreclosure filings including default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions.

Of the 230 metro areas tracked, California cities accounted for ...

The rest of Peter's post is here. And believe it or not, there's another state faring even worse than we are.

-- Veronique de Turenne