Ouch! Hurting in the Hamptons

The only good thing about a report like this is, it hits the rich or really well off. That's a good thing because in this country, no one wants to let the wealthy suffer. It's almost as if legislators think they deserve better and will come up with ways to fix the mortgage mess. While it would have been great they did something because so many of the middle and lower end earners were suffering, at least they may do something now.

TROUBLE IN LI PARADISE
FORECLOSURES LOOMING FOR THE HAMPTONS' POSHEST PADS
By SELIM ALGAR
May 12, 2008 -- Homeowners in the some of the toniest ZIP codes in the Hamptons are facing a frightening reality - they can't afford to foot the bill for their high-priced homes, The Post has learned.

In the first three months of this year, banks have launched preliminary foreclosure actions - known as lis pendens proceedings - against a record 120 borrowers in East Hampton and Southampton towns.

Twenty percent of those borrowers live in homes that are worth more than $1 million, according to figures from the Suffolk County clerk.

And the list gets longer every week.

"This problem didn't even exist before," said John Brady, a broker with Coldwell Banker in East Hampton. "They used to pop up once in a while, and you wouldn't even pay attention. Now you expect to see new ones every week."

Some of the Hampton high rollers feeling the pinch are:
* Janice Becker, a regular on the Southampton village social circuit, is facing foreclosure on her multimillion-dollar Wyandanch Lane property.
* Advertising veteran Ransel Potter is defaulting on a $1.8 million mortgage on an Amagansett parcel.
* Real-estate honcho John Conroy is in lis pendens for a $3.5 million mortgage on a Bridgehampton spread on West Pond Drive.
* Former UBS executive Marc Warren is in lis pendens on a $1 million mortgage for a Mitchells Lane pad in Bridgehampton.
* Investor Roger Thanhauser is trying to sell a home on Main Street in East Hampton village to avoid foreclosure.
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