A couple of years ago RealtyTrac was in some hot water for over-inflating foreclosure statistics for the state of Colorado. According to one Foreclosure Article in The Seattle Times, published online on June 16, 2007, “RealtyTrac reported 54,747 foreclosures last year — one of the highest in the nation. The state’s Division of Housing, however, said the actual number was 28,453 and publicly chastised the firm for inflating numbers.”
The article titled, “Numbers from foreclosure statistics company questioned,” continued by stating the company doubled, even triple-counted foreclosures for a single property.
The …

Along the same vein as prior articles on responsible reporting in the media, there seems to be more awareness towards media outlets touting gloom and doom figures. The people are beginning to publicly question the backings of all these new reports.
The latest of these articles comes out of the editorial/opinion column in the Outlook, a local paper in Oregon. Published on April 8, 2009, local realtor Jon Hull voices his opinion in his letter, “Responsible reporting vs. doom and gloom.” In the letter, Hull describes how journalism has “helped …

Throughout Foreclosure Research’s endeavor to find the truth behind foreclosure data, many different avenues have been explored to help demystify foreclosure statistics. Some of the more obvious causes of these untruths so to speak, came from the inaccuracies of several foreclosure listing providers, and from faulty reporting in the media.
However, the underlying truth behind the economy, foreclosures, and the housing market downturn are unarguably complex. Yet many factors are identifiable and some more pertinent than others.
One interesting perspective that has yet to be noted comes from Jay Brinkmann, a …