HOUSTON—When realtors Gary Bisha and Michael Greiner first listed a Bellaire foreclosure in February, they didn’t find memories of a family’s love and life.

AP

They found two dead cats and a mountain of damage.

“We do see some destruction in some of the houses where I think people are mad at themselves and the world. They want to take it out on something. It’s sad sometimes to see what people leave,” said Bisha.

He says that, in most cases, families flee homes and banks try to recoup the losses.

“We are still getting about the same amount of foreclosures as about a year ago. People are expecting that to continue for at least another year,” said Steve Kaufman, who owns Zeus Mortgage.

Kaufman predicts that as many as one million homes nationwide may be in foreclosure by the end of the year. 

Many people are now wondering what banks are doing with the hundreds of dollars in “PMI,” or private mortgage insurance, that millions of consumers pay monthly. 

“It (PMI) is insurance that protects your bank from you if you are in default on a loan,” said Kaufman.

He says PMI insures the bank for only 20 percent of the mortgage. 

The bank is responsible for the monthly payments that the homeowner didn’t make, and that loss is piled onto the bank’s expenses on damaged homes. 

“There is a lot more cost involved once it has foreclosed. It’s not just, we put it on the market and sell it. The bank may put $20,000 into it and get it repaired and paying an agency or whoever sells the home,” said Bisha.

In this market the home often sits vacant for months. 

“The bank does not recover their money,” said Bisha.

“This is a losing proposition for both sides, the homeowner and the banks. No one wants a foreclosure,” he said.