ASHTABULA — Government programs and increased consumer awareness should together help stem the number of home foreclosures in the next few years, Ohio Treasurer Richard Cordray said Wednesday.

Cordray spent the day in Ashtabula County, speaking to various groups on a variety of topics, including Ohio’s runaway foreclosure situation.

“(The county’s) situation is not unique,” he said during a meeting at the Star Beacon.

Last year, 84,751 foreclosures were filed across the state, up from 79,435 in 2006, according to a report from Policy Matters Ohio. Ashtabula County hasn’t been spared: 760 foreclosures were filed in 2007, compared to 723 in 2006 and 588 in 2005, according to the report. In 1997, 175 foreclosures were filed, according to Policy Matters Ohio.

The state may have been slow to react, but initiatives recently enacted by government and other agencies should help stem the bleeding, Cordray said.

“We will have a high number this year, but it should crest at that point,” he said. “It should be two or three years before that number comes down appreciably.”

“We’re building a broad coalition,” including community groups and the private sector, to tackle the problem, Cordray said.

“We are matching resources to people in trouble and identifying what resources are available,” he said. “Some people are frozen with fear and don’t know where to turn.”

A mediation project launched by the Ashtabula County Common Pleas Courts is one example of a helpful program, Cordray said.

Houses lost to foreclosure spawn a host of other problems, including decreased property values, Cordray said.

“We can’t afford to let this problem sit,” he said.

The shaky economy also has Ohioans casting anxious glances at their banks and financial institutions, but Cordray believes the big players in the industry will survive unscathed.

“I think (bigger banks) will be fine,” Cordray said. “(Banking) is one of the bright spots in the economy.”

As state treasurer, Cordray revived a dormant program, Grow Now, that has provided some $200 million to help banks underwrite loans to assist small businesses.

Cordray is a candidate for Ohio attorney general and is hoping to fill the vacancy created by the abrupt resignation of Marc Dann, after a few scandal-plagued months in office. Cordray said he was approached by Gov. Ted Strickland to seek the job.