WHAT COUNTS IN COLORADO
Colorado's method of compiling foreclosures is somewhat different from those in other parts of the nation. In some states, foreclosures are tallied only after a home is sold because of failure to make mortgage payments.
In Colorado, foreclosures are recorded when lenders file paperwork with a county public trustee's office. In El Paso County, there were 3,556 foreclosure filings in 2007, breaking the 1988 record of 3,476.
But not every foreclosure in Colorado results in the loss of a home. Once a foreclosure filing takes place, homeowners have several weeks to catch up on their missed mortgage payments or work out a payment plan with lenders. If a homeowner fails to "cure" the default on the loan, as the process is called, or if a lender doesn't withdraw the foreclosure action, then the house can be sold. In 2007, 1,682 properties - mostly residential - were sold in El Paso County months after the original foreclosure action was filed. That was a 90.5 percent increase from 2003.
While a big increase from five years ago, the 1,682 sales represent only a fraction of the more than 260,000 real estate parcels in the county, said El Paso County Assessor Mark Lowderman.
"Sixteen-hundred out of 260,000," he said. "That's minuscule."