Published: Thursday, May 17, 2012

Oregon foreclosure filings in April were nearly half the amount seen a year ago, reflecting a nationwide decline and a shift in foreclosure activity toward the East Coast.

According to RealtyTrac, a California-based foreclosure listing site, lenders filed fewer U.S. foreclosure actions in April than any month since July 2007.

In Oregon, lenders set foreclosure auctions for 1,203 properties in April and repossessed 504. Filings fell 48 percent compared with a year earlier, and 2.5 percent compared with March.

In the Portland area, foreclosure filings have fallen 43 percent since last April and 9 percent since March. The biggest decline was in Washington’s Clark County, where filings are down 43 percent from a year ago.

“The trend is stabilizing,” said Ally Leavitt, a spokeswoman for Gorilla Capital, a Eugene company that buys and sells foreclosed homes. “We’re going to look to get back to 2007 numbers at the end of the year.” Read the rest of this entry »

Friday, May 11, 2012
Oregon Home Foreclosure Numbers Down in April
Despite the declines, experts at Eugene-based Gorilla Capital foresee a spike on the horizon with the passage of foreclosure legislation
Note to Editors and Reporters: The following news release contains statewide foreclosure numbers for the Oregon counties where Gorilla Capital operates. News releases with county-specific data are forthcoming. Reporters on deadline may request immediate county-specific figures by calling (541) 344-7867.

EUGENE, Ore. – Oregon home foreclosures in April were down by 11 percent from the previous month, according to officials with Eugene-based Gorilla Capital. In 15 Oregon counties where Gorilla operates, there were 732 foreclosures in April 2012, down from 827 in March. A notice of default is the official beginning of the foreclosure process.

Despite the decline, Gorilla Capital CEO John Helmick said the recent passage of Oregon SB-1552 would likely cause a short-term spike in foreclosures in the coming months. Most of the provisions of the bill, which requires lenders to meet in mediation sessions with homeowners who are facing foreclosure, take effect July 12, 2012.

“The recent legislative action will likely mean more foreclosures in Oregon counties,” Helmick said. “Although well-intentioned, this bill makes material changes to Oregon’s foreclosure law that will prevent the market from stabilizing in the short term.” Read the rest of this entry »

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 26, 2012

Gorilla Capital Goes Bananas for the
2012 Eugene Marathon

Runners will get a potassium boost from a group of “gorillas” handing out bananas near the 8-mile mark of the race

EUGENE, Ore. – Gorilla Capital, a proud sponsor of the Eugene Marathon since the race began in 2007, is assembling a team of “gorillas” to hand out bananas to participants of the Eugene Marathon and Half-Marathon, from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. this Sunday, April 29.

Members of the South Eugene High School men’s and women’s 2011 state champion cross-country teams will be dressed in gorilla suits and Gorilla Capital T-shirts to cheer on racers and provide them with potassium-packed snacks. The group will be stationed just before mile 8 of the marathon in front of South Eugene High School at 19th Avenue and Patterson Street.

“Gorilla Capital is proud to have supported the Eugene Marathon from its inception,” said Gorilla Capital CEO John Helmick. “It takes a lot to run a marathon, and we salute the runners for their toughness, endurance and grit.”

After making the winning bid on a Hillsboro, Ore., condo, the buyer and seller of premium foreclosure homes celebrates its 1,000th property

EUGENE, Ore. – Gorilla Capital, one of the nation’s leading purchasers of homes sold at foreclosure auctions, celebrated its 1000^th property with the recent purchase of a 1,249 square-foot condo in Hillsboro, Ore.

“We’re pleased to have played a role in the evolution of the foreclosure industry, which has gone from an industry nobody talked about to a viable segment of the real estate market,”  said John Helmick, Gorilla Capital’s CEO.

Founded in Oregon in 2006 at the height of the housing boom, Gorilla Capital began with the simple motto of “we sell them cheap, because we buy them cheaper.” The Gorilla model of carefully tracking reviewing and assessing thousands of foreclosure homes and buying only the highest quality properties quickly caught fire and the company branched out into Florida, Arizona, Idaho and other states. The company’s rapid growth earned it a spot on Inc. Magazine’s Top 500|5000 list of fastest growing companies, where it was ranked as the 10^th fastest growing real estate company in America. Gorilla Capital now operates in eight states and 18 Oregon counties. Over the past six years, during a topsy turvey time in housing, the company has seen it all, Helmick says.

“From the housing highs of 2006 to the steep declines and foreclosure spikes of 2008 and 2009 to the current rebuilding and strengthening of the housing market, this company has been through a lot,” Helmick said. “In recent months, it’s been encouraging to watch real estate rebound and foreclosures decline.” Read the rest of this entry »

Thursday, April 12, 2012
March 2012 home foreclosure numbers were largely unchanged from the previous month,
according to Eugene-based Gorilla Capital, but more foreclosures may be on the horizon

Note to Editors and Reporters: The following news release contains statewide foreclosure numbers for the Oregon counties where Gorilla Capital operates. News releases with county-specific data are forthcoming. Reporters on deadline may request immediate county-specific figures by calling (541) 344-7867.

EUGENE, Ore. – Oregon home foreclosures in March 2012 were up by 1 percent from the previous month, according to officials with Eugene-based Gorilla Capital. In 15 Oregon counties where Gorilla operates, there were a total of 827 notices of default recorded last month – up slightly from 815 in February 2012. A notice of default is the official beginning of the foreclosure process.

“When it comes to notices of default, we’re continuing to see more consistent numbers being recorded,” said John Helmick, Gorilla Capital CEO. “This suggests the state’s real estate market is stabilizing.”

Despite the fact that foreclosure numbers are leveling off, Helmick said the recent passage of Oregon SB-1552 would likely reverse that trend. The legislation, which requires lenders to meet in mediation sessions with homeowners who are facing foreclosure, will take effect 91 days after the governor signs the bill.

“The recent legislative action means more foreclosures,” Helmick said. “This bill, which makes material changes to Oregon’s foreclosure law, will cause a short-term spike in new foreclosure filings.” Read the rest of this entry »

Tuesday, March 13, 2012
February 2012 home foreclosure numbers were down from a year ago, according to Eugene-based Gorilla Capital

Note to Editors and Reporters: The following news release contains statewide foreclosure numbers for the Oregon counties where Gorilla Capital operates. News releases with county-specific data are forthcoming. Reporters on deadline may request immediate county-specific figures by calling (541) 344-7867.

EUGENE, Ore. – Oregon home foreclosures in February 2012 were down by 4 percent from one year ago, say officials with Eugene-based Gorilla Capital. In 15 Oregon counties where Gorilla operates, there were a total of 815 notices of default recorded last month  – down from 846 in February 2011. A notice of default is the official beginning of the foreclosure process.

“We’ve long said that 2012 will be a year of recovery for the state’s housing market and the numbers are reinforcing that speculation,” said John Helmick, Gorilla Capital CEO. “We are continuing to see a general leveling off of notice of default filings.”

Other notable foreclosure statistics include the following:

• In 15 Oregon counties where Gorilla Capital operates, the largest year-over-year decreases in notices of default occurred in Josephine and Deschutes counties, which saw declines of 29 and 19 percent.
• Five of 15 counties where Gorilla Capital operates saw year-over-year decreases in notices of default. Three counties saw no change.
• In general, most of the increases in year-over-year notices of default were small or statistically insignificant – only three counties saw increases of more than 9 percent.

Notices of default increased from January to February in most Oregon counties, but those increases did not appear to be a part of a larger trend, Helmick said.

Click here to read the article in the March issue of Oregon Business Magazine featuring Gorilla Capital being awarded as one of the Top 100 Companies to work for in Oregon

Friday, February 10, 2012
“The numbers tell the story” as home foreclosures decline throughout the state, according to the latest figures released by Eugene-based Gorilla Capital

Note to Editors and Reporters:The following news release contains statewide foreclosure numbers for the Oregon counties where Gorilla Capital operates. News releases with county-specific data are forthcoming. Reporters on deadline may request immediate county-specific figures by calling (541) 344-7867.

EUGENE, Ore. – Home foreclosures in January were down by 22 percent from the previous month and down 44 percent from a year ago, say officials with Eugene-based Gorilla Capital. In 15 Oregon counties where Gorilla operates, there were a total of 577 notices of default recorded during the first month of 2012 – down from 743 in December 2011 and down from 1,027 in January of 2011. A notice of default is the official beginning of the foreclosure process. Read the rest of this entry »

Thursday, January 12, 2012
Notices of default declined significantly in 2011, according to
the latest numbers released by Eugene-based Gorilla Capital

Note to Editors and Reporters: The following news release contains statewide foreclosure numbers for the Oregon counties where Gorilla Capital operates. News releases with county-specific data are forthcoming. Reporters on deadline may request immediate county-specific figures by calling (541) 344-7867.

EUGENE, Ore. – The results are in from 2011, and it’s clear that Oregon’s real estate market is on a path of recovery, say officials with Eugene-based Gorilla Capital. In 15 Oregon counties where Gorilla operates, there were a total of 12,027 notices of default filed in 2011 – a 30 percent decrease from 2010 when 17,120 notices of default were recorded. A notice of default is the official beginning of the foreclosure process.

“Oregon foreclosure totals for 2011 represent a significant decrease from the previous year,” said John Helmick, Gorilla Capital CEO. “The numbers peaked in 2010 and declined in 2011. We are forecasting continued decreases and a leveling off in 2012, absent any government intervention that might disrupt the market’s natural recovery.”

In late 2011 Helmick rightly predicted that the year would close with a 30 percent decrease in notices of default. Other notable foreclosure statistics include the following:

• There were 743 notices of default in December 2011 in 15 Oregon counties where Gorilla Capital operates, a decline of 36 percent from December 2010 when 1,163 notices of default were recorded.
• Six counties – Coos, Crook, Curry, Deschutes, Douglas and Polk – all recorded year-over-year decreases of at least 49 percent from December 2010 to December 2011.
• Deschutes County, a county that was hit particularly hard by foreclosures in 2009-2010, showed the biggest annual decrease in notices of default. The county recorded 2,365 notices of default in 2011, a decline of 37 percent from 2010 when 3,764 notices of default were filed.
• All 15 Oregon counties where Gorilla Capital operates saw declines in notices of default from 2010 to 2011.

In looking at month-to-month numbers in Oregon, there was a slight but statistically insignificant increase in notices of default. The state recorded 813 notices of default in 17 Oregon counties in December 2011, as compared to 796 in November 2011, a 2 percent increase. The biggest decreases in month-to-month numbers occurred in Curry, Douglas and Crook counties, which saw decreases of 40 percent, 36 percent and 24 percent, respectively.

Some say the 40 percent drop has more to do with a moratorium and short sales than an improved market

By Diane Dietz
The Register-Guard
Thursday, Jan 12, 2012

Lane County foreclosure filings dropped by more than 40 percent in 2011, compared with the previous year, according to a national foreclosure tracking firm. But people familiar with the local housing market aren’t ready yet to say the market’s recovered, although they concur that foreclosures are decreasing, for a variety of reasons.

Some say the reduction in filings is because federal investigations brought foreclosures to a halt early last year — and the numbers will increase again in 2012.

Others say banks are OK’ing more short sales so homeowners can get out of bad financial situations by selling at a loss and avoiding foreclosure.

“The job market hasn’t changed that much, at least not in Oregon,” Gorilla Capital CEO John Helmick said. “We’re simply running out of bad loans to foreclose on.” Eugene-based Gorilla specialized in buying foreclosed homes, fixing them up and reselling them.

Lane County foreclosure filings fell to 1,379 last year, 42 percent lower than 2010, according to RealtyTrac, a California-based firm that tracks foreclosures nationally.

Read the rest of this entry »