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FHFA: GSEs Completed Nearly 66,000 Foreclosure Prevention Actions in Q4

money-life-preserverFannie Mae and Freddie Mac completed 65,900 foreclosure prevention actions in the fourth quarter of 2014, which included loan modifications, repayment plans, forbearance plans, short sales, and deeds-in-lieu of foreclosure, according to the FHFA's Q4 2014 Foreclosure Prevention Report issued late Thursday.

According to FHFA, nearly 41,000 out of those 65,900 foreclosure prevention actions (62 percent) completed in Q4 were permanent loan modifications; 33 percent of borrowers who received loan mods had their payments reduced by 30 percent or more, according to FHFA.

Approximately 11,300 borrowers remained in their homes after agreeing to repayment plans, and about 2,500 received forbearance plans, according to FHFA. The total number of home retention actions during the quarter was approximately 55,000, down slightly from Q3's total of nearly 60,000. The number of overall foreclosure prevention actions (including home forfeiture actions) declined slightly quarter-over-quarter in Q4 from 72,700 to 65,900.

"Keeping families in their homes continues to be a top priority for Freddie Mac and we exhaust every workout option to do so," Freddie Mac recently wrote on its blog.

The number of home forfeiture actions completed in Q4 also declined slightly from Q3 (12,900 compared to 10,800). Short sales for Q4 totaled 7,600, while about 3,200 borrowers received a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure, according to FHFA.

The fourth quarter total of foreclosure prevention actions completed by the GSEs lifted the total number of such actions in 2014 to 307,200 and the total since the GSEs were taken into conservatorship by the FHFA in 2008 up to 3.4 million.

The serious delinquency rate (90 days or more past due or in bankruptcy or foreclosure) on loans backed by the GSEs dropped to 1.9 percent in the fourth quarter, near pre-crisis levels. By comparison, the serious delinquency rate on Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans in Q4 was 6.0 percent, and for Veterans Affairs (VA) loans it was 3.4 percent, according to FHFA. The nationwide serious delinquency average for all loans during the quarter was 4.5 percent.

Third-party sales and foreclosure sales (completed foreclosures) on GSE loans declined in Q4 by 7 percent down to 36.200. Foreclosure starts experienced a slight decline, down to 74,000. REO inventory fell by 8 percent to 111,000, during Q4, according to FHFA.

Approximately 2.8 million of foreclosure prevention actions (82 percent) completed by the GSEs since 2008 have helped homeowners stay in their homes, and about 1.8 million out of those homeowners have received permanent loan modifications. More than one million homeowners have received a form of assistance such as a repayment of forbearance plan to allow them to remain in their homes. About 605,000 homeowners received assistance in the form of short sales or deeds-in-lieu that allowed them to leave their homes without foreclosure.

About Author: Brian Honea

Brian Honea's writing and editing career spans nearly two decades across many forms of media. He served as sports editor for two suburban newspaper chains in the DFW area and has freelanced for such publications as the Yahoo! Contributor Network, Dallas Home Improvement magazine, and the Dallas Morning News. He has written four non-fiction sports books, the latest of which, The Life of Coach Chuck Curtis, was published by the TCU Press in December 2014. A lifelong Texan, Brian received his master's degree from Amberton University in Garland.
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