Businesses tighten belts to survive recession

Patrick Parkinson, Of the Record staff - 01/20/2009

Number of foreclosures in Park City area spiked last year

The economic recession could be driving up court filings and increasing mortgage foreclosures in Park City.

Foreclosures statewide last summer and fall increased 111 percent, according to state court statistics. The largest increases in foreclosures occurred in American Fork, Provo, West Jordan, St. George, Heber and Park City.

"If you go back over the last 15-20 years, whenever there's a downturn you generally see an increase in civil filings" said Daniel Becker, a state courts administrator.

There were 17 filings related to property liens and foreclosures in 3rd District Court at Silver Summit in 2007. In December, 40 related court filings had already occurred in Summit County in 2008, according to the statistics.

Meanwhile, businesses in Park City are also facing belt-tightening.

"We're up there every couple of weeks," process server Bob Reitz said. "We did a very high-end execution up in Park City not long ago, when one of the clothing stores had some problems."

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Businesses tighten belts to survive recession

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