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Foreclosure Filings Fall in October. Robogate Fallout Skews Report

by devteam November 12th, 2010 | Share

RealtyTracrnreported Thursday that one in every 389 U.S. housing units was the subject of arnforeclosure filing in October. The 332,172 filings during the month represented,rna 4 percent decrease from the Septemberrnfigures and was nearly identical to the number of filings in October 2009.</p

RealtyTrac, located in IrvinernCalifornia, compiles a U.S. Foreclosure Market Report each month by trackingrndocuments filed in all three stages of foreclosure:</p<ol

  • Notice ofrnDefault (NOD) and Lis Pendens (LIS). This is the first legal notification from arnlender that the borrower on a mortgage loan has defaulted under the terms ofrntheir mortgage and the lender intends to foreclose unless the loan is broughtrncurrent.</li
  • Auction – Noticernof Trustee Sale and Notice of Foreclosure Sale (NTS and NFS); If the borrower does notrncatch up on their payments the lender will file a notice of sale (the lenderrnintends to sell the property). This notice is published in local paper andrncontains information pertaining to the date, time and subject property address.</li
  • Real EstaternOwned or REO properties : “REO” stands for “real estate owned” andrntypically refers to the inventory of real estate that banks and mortgagerncompanies have foreclosed on and subsequently purchased through the foreclosurernauction if there was no offer higher than the minimum bid.</li</ol

    October figures forrneach of the three stages of foreclosure declined from September, but year-over-year figures were mixed.  The actual auction orrnrepossession of properties may have been impacted by the moratoriums put onrnforeclosures by several lenders beginning in late September after the discoveryrnof wide-spread “robo-signing,” the mass processing of tens ofrnthousands of foreclosure documents by servicers who neither read nor checkedrnthe underlying security instruments,. While this was initially a problem inrnstates with a judicial foreclosure process, some lenders eventually suspended auctionsrnin all states. </p

    A total of 100,575rnproperties received default notices in October, down 2 percent from Septemberrnand 19 percent from October 2009, the ninth straight month fewer defaultrnnotices were filed than in the same period a year earlier.  </p

    The number of properties receiving NTS or NFSrndeclined 3 percent to 138,351 last month but this was 6 percent higher than arnyear ago.</p

    In September, shortlyrnbefore the first postponements of foreclosures were announced, the number ofrnauctions and repossessions set a new RealtyTrac record. In October thatrnfigure dropped 9 percent to 93,236, a figure still 21 percent higher than inrnOctober 2009.  In 2010 bankers foreclosedrnon an average of more than 91,000 homes each month. </p

    “October marks the 20thrnconsecutive month where over 300,000 U.S. homeowners received arnforeclosure notice,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer atrnRealtyTrac. “The numbers probably would have been higher except for the falloutrnfrom the recent ‘robo-signing’ controversy – which is the most likelyrnreason for the 9 percent monthly drop in REOs we saw from September to Octoberrnand which may result in further decreases in November.”</p

    State level data was mixed,rnwith default notices decreasing in most states (although up dramatically inrnIllinois) and auction notices decreasing in 26 states and the District ofrnColombia.   While bank repossessions were probably skewed,rnthey decreased month-over-month in 33 states and the District, and year-overrnyear in 14 states.  </p

    Nevada, Florida and Arizonarnare still suffering from the highest rates of distressed property in therncountry.  In Nevada one in every 79rnhousing units received a foreclosure filing for the month, a total of 14,205rnnotices.  This was a drop of 13 percentrnof September but was 3 percent higher than in September 2009.  56,858 notices were filed in Florida, a onernin 155 unit rate, while Arizona retained its third place rate with 16,538rnfilings, one in every 165 housing units.  Filings have spiked in Florida for twornconsecutive months after declining for five.    Otherrnstates with foreclosure rates ranking among the top 10 in October werernCalifornia, Michigan, Utah, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, and Colorado.</p

     Five states,rnCalifornia, Florida, Michigan, Illinois, and Arizona, accounted for half of allrnforeclosure filings in the U.S. in September. rnCalifornia alone had 20 percent of all filings and Florida 17 percent.

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  • About the Author

    devteam

    Steven A Feinberg (@CPAsteve) of Appletree Business Services LLC, is a PASBA member accountant located in Londonderry, New Hampshire.

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