WBEZ 91.5 Chicago

A new study says Chicago-area foreclosure cases are taking longer to process. The data, compiled by Woodstock Institute, says the median time for a house to complete foreclosure in the second quarter of 2011 was 359 days.

Cities have been tearing down crumbling, vacant houses for decades. The money for municipal demolition bills usually comes out of city budgets, but in Cleveland the housing crisis has started to change that equation.Bill Beavers has lived on Cleveland's Dove Street since 1967.

The Indiana Attorney General’s office is suing two firms for allegedly scamming homeowners out of money. The homeowners were trying to stave off losing their homes through foreclosure.

Grammy-winning singer R. Kelly faces a $2.9 million foreclosure on his suburban Chicago mansion.   A Crain's Chicago Business publication reports that JPMorgan Chase Bank filed the foreclosure lawsuit last month in Cook County Circuit Court.

Illinois home foreclosure activity rose more than 5 percent in May compared to the previous month. A report released Thursday by Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac shows Illinois with 10,574 foreclosure filings last month.

A new state law that goes into effect Jan. 1, 2011, aims to help members of the military avoid foreclosure.The law allows people recently deployed in combat zones to apply for a 90-day delay if they’re facing foreclosure. State Representative Mark Walker sponsored the bill.

A new report shows the foreclosure crisis hit Chicago particularly hard this summer.The numbers from RealtyTrac show the summer in Chicago was not a pleasant one for many home owners. The city and its suburbs saw a 35 percent increase in foreclosures compared to a year ago.