By David Giambusso and Tom De Poto/The Star-Ledger

NEWARK — The city was a tale of two crises Thursday.

On one end of Broad Street, the sing-song voice of an auctioneer echoed through the Terrace Ballroom at Newark Symphony Hall as about 100 hopeful investors bid on 79 foreclosed properties at bargain-basement prices.

Down the street, at City Hall, local leaders and community advocates spoke in somber tones, debating a way out of a foreclosure crisis that continues to ravage city coffers and the pocketbooks of its residents.

"It’s as if my life, security for my family, a roof over our heads is a game to them," Newark resident Grace Alexander said, referring to Bank of America, whom she said would not modify her mortgage when she fell behind on payments. "Our impending homelessness is not a game to us."

She is not alone.

NJ Communities United, an advocacy group for low- and moderate-income residents, released a nine-page paper Thursday titled "Newark Homewrecker," detailing how the foreclosure crisis has cost homeowners in the city $1.9 billion in lost property value since the housing bubble burst in 2007.

City Councilmen Darrin Sharif and Ron C. Rice hosted the group at City Hall along with about 40 residents and community activists to hear issues surrounding the crisis.

The report estimated that the nearly 7,000 foreclosures between 2008 and 2012 cost the city $56 million in police and fire department calls, safety inspections, trash removal and maintenance. It anticipates the city could face an additional $74 million in costs as more homes move through the foreclosure pipeline.

"Neither the banks nor the Christie administration wants to deal with the reality of these toxic loans," said Trina Scordo, executive director of NJ Communities United.

She cited the $75 million New Jersey received in federal aid to help distressed homeowners that Gov. Christie rolled into the general treasury to help balance the budget.

Sharif, calling the situation "horrible and horrendous," said he had invited representatives from the Christie administration, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Chase, but all declined.

New Jersey also received $300 million in 2010 and used it to start the New Jersey Homekeeper program. After a rocky start in which only a small percentage of the money was distributed, Lisa Ryan, a spokeswoman for the Division of Consumer Affairs that oversees the program, said New Jersey Homekeeper awarded 2,515 foreclosure prevention loans totaling more than $100 million by the end of 2012. The average loan is about $40,000.

Down the street, at the auction, Newark residents and out-of-town investors were looking to make the best of a bad situation. Unlike bank foreclosures, the city reclaimed the auctioned properties for unpaid taxes.

Richard Grossklaus, co-founder of Newark’s Integrity House and a 27-year resident, was seated in the front row. An abandoned lot next to his home on Martin Luther King Boulevard was up for bid.

"I’m buying from my own personal money," he said. "Others are buying from an investment pool. It would just give me peace of mind to own it. I’ve adopted it for many years."

Bids on the lot went from about $12,000 to $60,000 in under a minute, but Grossklaus won out. City officials said the auction yielded roughly $6 million. The properties, officials said, will now be returned to the tax rolls and no longer be a drain on city coffers.

Carol Meyers, a researcher at SEIU International and author of the "Newark Homewreckers" report, said the city should do more.

She advocated the use of eminent domain, wherein the city could pay fair market value for homes in which the homeowner is behind on mortgage payments, "and create conditions for new sustainable mortgages at current home values, all while borrowers stay in their homes."

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