Making Money In Foreclosure Economy

Legal notices as a revenue stream

The news about foreclosures continues to be dreadful, but some folks are squeezing out a few extra dollars because filings are up.

In Cook County, 277 foreclosures are being filed everyday, according to Cook County Circuit Clerk Dorothy Brown. That's a 72 percent increase since President Obama took office - not that it's his fault.

"Illinois ranked seventh nationally in foreclosure activity last month as Cook County filings surged in recent weeks despite pledges by big banks to a temporary cease fire, according to two reports released Thursday," AP reports.

"Last year, lenders filed 43,726 foreclosure cases in Cook County, according to Brown's office. At the new, higher filing pace seen recently, the county could see foreclosures surpass 50,000 this year, the clerk said."

Just as "Going Out of Business" signmakers are doing well in this horrid economy, though, one local businessman is taking advantage of the skyrocketing foreclosure notices.

Ron Roenigk has just bought the local Booster and News-Star community newspapers for just that reason.

"When longtime Chicago publisher Bruce Sagan, a part-owner of the Booster, Skyline, and News-Star, came to Roenigk a few days ago and pitched a sale, what appealed to Roenigk was the chance to inherit the Booster and News-Star's legal notices," Reader media critic Michael Miner reports.

Said Roenigk: "Sadly, the only advertising that's up is foreclosure notices."

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