Currently, anyone who searches the McDowell Co register of deeds will discover after a search for Lakewood 27 entries, of which 7 are for foreclosures. Thats 26%, who in there right mind would buy into a community with a 1/4 foreclosure rate especially when they are all POA foreclosures. When the current board was asked about the impact of foreclosures we were told that the Board has pursued an aggressive collection and foreclosure process to get properties for resale at high prices. Their process has been to secretly forclose and then try to sell the lot to a new or existing owner, (reference the 2025 Open Meeting document where this process is outlined and celebrated as a practice that benefits all). In the latest round of foreclosures where they auctioned 23 lots some owners caught wind of the process and placed bids only to learn that the POA was bidding against them. When asked about it they claimed that the purpose was to keep the comps high. When it was pointed out that by foreclosing at all they were ruining any future comps and creating a situation where any potential owner could see that something was going wrong for there to be so many foreclosures. What seems more plausible is that the board is doing what they said they were going to do in the letter (ref above) they sent previously to maximize profit.
What are your thoughts?