Approximately 1 point 88 million homeowners nationwide received a mortgage solution or foreclosure alternative in the form of a loan modification, short sale, deed-in-lieu of foreclosure, or other workout plan during 2014, according to data released Wednesday by HOPE NOW. The 2014 numbers brought the total number of solutions the industry has offered to homeowners since 2007, when HOPE NOW began tracking the data, up to 23.2 million, representing a combination of both long and short term tools.
Both foreclosure starts and completed foreclosures experienced significant declines in 2014 compared to 2013. In 2014, the foreclosure process was started on approximately 842 thousand homes nationwide compared to 1.28 million in 2013, a decline of 34 percent. Completed foreclosures, which are a true indicator of the number of homes lost to foreclosure, declined by 27 percent – from 627,000 in 2013 down to 455,000 in 2014.
Citigroup is preparing to pay approximately $20 million to thousands of homeowners who were eligible to receive compensation as part of the Independent Foreclosure Settlement reached between the government and 10 mortgage servicers two years ago over loan servicing and foreclosure procedure violations, according to media reports. Citigroup failed to deliver cash compensation to about 23,000 homeowners and will now pay about $20 million to the eligible borrowers – after the government noticed the oversight.