Community activists respond to foreclosure crisis in hard-hit Detroit

Default notices, auction sales and bank repossessions on US homes are increasing this year according to figures released by RealtyTrac, an online company specializing in foreclosure properties.

RealtyTrac says there were nearly two million foreclosure fillings in the first six months of 2009, a nine percent increase from the previous six months. RealtyTrac lists Michigan as the seventh state with the highest foreclosure rates.  Its largest city, Detroit, has been hit hard by the foreclosure crisis.

The motor city once boasted the highest rate of home ownership in the US, but last year it experienced the highest rate of foreclosures in the country. Some homes in Detroit are currently on sale for prices similar to a used car, with the median sales price at $6,500, according to real estate company Realcomp. But community activists and some government officials are responding to the crisis with new solutions. FSRN'S Sacajaweah Hall reports.