For the past 2 years, real estate professionals and foreclosure consultants have been warning the nation about the foreclosure wave that would arrive once the federal pandemic moratoriums were lifted.
As they predicted, foreclosure actions increased by nearly seven fold in the first 2 months of 2022. Mortgage lenders, their servicing companies, and their foreclosure attorneys filed nearly 33 Thousand foreclosure actions. Per the mortgage data site Black Knight, nearly half of the foreclosure actions were among homeowners who were already delinquent on their mortgage payments prior to the economic impacts of COVID-19. The remaining half from homeowners who fell behind after the pandemic (March 2020 and after).
The worrying sentiment amongst these same real estate and foreclosure experts is that the nation has not even scratched the surface as far as the true number of potential future foreclosures.
As of March 1st 2022, there are still close to 1 million homeowners behind on mortgage payments. The majority having already finished their forbearance plans and now at the mercy of the mortgage lenders. Half of these homeowners were behind before the pandemic hit 2 years ago. Thus at this point, this large pool of borrowers are over 24 months behind on payment. Several years of unpaid payments equal very large delinquencies, which will not be easily paid off by these struggling homeowners. This presents a huge foreclosure potential in the real estate market.
Some very interesting statistics:
Total U.S. foreclosure starts: 32,900
Month-over-month change: 702.44%
Year-over-year change: 457.63%
Foreclosure sales as % of 90+: 0.36%
Month-over-month change: 21.02%
Year-over-year change: 331.92%
Number of properties in foreclosure pre-sale inventory: 149,000
Month-over-month change: 21,000
Year-over-year change: -22,000
Number of properties that are 30 or more days past due or in foreclosure: 1,907,000
Month-over-month change: -20,000
Year-over-year change: -1,394,000
States with the highest NON-CURRENT Status percentage:
- Utah: 2.19%
- California: 2.06%
- Colorado: 2.01%
- Washington: 1.95%
- Idaho: 1.85%
What options do homeowners have if they are facing foreclosure? Do not sit and wait for a miracle. Take action immediately. Seek professional and honest help. For over a decade, Homeowner Protection Alliance has protected homeowners in hardship from losing their homes in foreclosure. As long as a homeowner or family has consistent income, a responsible budget, and can show the ability to afford their mortgage again, HPA can help.
Hardships occur in life. Unexpected loss of income. A global pandemic. health and medical hardships. Loss of life. When a borrower of a mortgage falls delinquent on their mortgage, they often feel helpless and alone. The mortgage company treats them as a loan number, and as a profit source. The foreclosure attorneys are even more vicious in their collection and foreclosure actions. Especially in a hot real estate market such as today’s. Homeowners have options. Homeowners must exercise their options!
Give us a call today to talk with an experienced and ethical advocate for free assistance!