Foreclosure filings decline 10% in US as states slow process

Half million dollar house in Salinas, California under foreclosure. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Seizing properties from borrowers behind on their mortgage payments became harder as judicial decisions and recently enacted laws gave homeowners more ways to avoid foreclosure, RealtyTrac Vice President Daren Blomquist said in the statement. An Oregon law that took effect last month, for example, grants homeowners in or at risk of default the right to request mediation, he said.

The law resulted in foreclosure filings in the state “hitting a five-year low, but we would expect the Oregon numbers to trend back higher sometime in the next several months based on the pattern we’ve seen in other states with similar legislation,” Blomquist said. Procedural changes in states such as Florida, Illinois and New Jersey produced only “a temporary foreclosure lull,” he said.

Lenders have contributed to declines in filings by approving more short sales, in which a property is sold for less than the loan balance. Those deals avert home seizures and minimize losses, RealtyTrac Chief Executive Officer Brandon Moore said on June 14. Short sales fetched $27,000 more than transactions involving bank-owned homes in the first quarter, according to the company. ... Continue to read.

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