For the eighth month in a row foreclosure activity has fallen on an annualized basis. The numbers for May, according to RealtyTrac, show that foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions — were down 2 percent compared to April and 33 percent lower than a year ago.
The catch? Well there are a few of them.
First, lower is a relative term. The reality is that 214,927 U.S. properties faced foreclosure notices of some kind. On an historic basis that's a very big number.
Second, foreclosure activity is not down because of the sudden onset of better economic times. Instead, it's apparent that the paperwork boondoggle, which became apparent in late 2010, continues to haunt lenders.
“Foreclosure processing delays continue to mask the true face of the foreclosure situation, although there were some clues in the May numbers of what lies behind that mask,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac.
Foreclosures are being deferred even when homeowners are not making payments because lenders increasingly need to prove that they actually own loans when taking homeowners to court. Why? In one case that has become the poster child for questionable paperwork, a Florida couple, Warren and Maureen Nyerges, faced foreclosure claims even though they had paid cash for their home — that's right, there was NO mortgage according to Florida station WINK-TV.
In addition, there's the robo-signing scandal — an unknown number of sworn foreclosure affidavits which were completed without a full check of the data they were supposed to confirm.
For the eighth month in a row foreclosure activity has fallen on an annualized basis. The numbers for May, according to RealtyTrac, show that foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions — were down 2 percent compared to April and 33 percent lower than a year ago.
The catch? Well there are a few of them.
First, lower is a relative term. The reality is that 214,927 U.S. properties faced foreclosure notices of some kind. On an historic basis that's a very big number.
Second, foreclosure activity is not down because of the sudden onset of better economic times. Instead, it's apparent that the paperwork boondoggle, which became apparent in late 2010, continues to haunt lenders.
“Foreclosure processing delays continue to mask the true face of the foreclosure situation, although there were some clues in the May numbers of what lies behind that mask,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac.
Foreclosures are being deferred even when homeowners are not making payments because lenders increasingly need to prove that they actually own loans when taking homeowners to court. Why? In one case that has become the poster child for questionable paperwork, a Florida couple, Warren and Maureen Nyerges, faced foreclosure claims even though they had paid cash for their home — that's right, there was NO mortgage according to Florida station WINK-TV.
In addition, there's the robo-signing scandal — an unknown number of sworn foreclosure affidavits which were completed without a full check of the data they were supposed to confirm.
http://www.ourbroker.com/news/realtytrac-foreclosure-activity-down-for-eighth-month-061611/#axzz1OP4OkLgv
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