Tag Archives: HOPE NOW

Foreclosures are way down and many housing fundamentals are at pre-crisis levels. But for those borrowers still facing foreclosure or at risk of defaulting, permanent loan modification remains a popular option.

While the number of completed non-foreclosure solutions is declining, so are foreclosure starts and sales—and that means good news for housing.

Loss mitigation efforts will continue in isolated pockets that are still struggling, according to HOPE NOW.

Foreclosure alternatives continue to outpace foreclosure sales by a wide margin.

With foreclosure volumes—and the need for loss mitigation—on a steady decline, the question is whether or not housing markets can sustain their growth.

While the number of foreclosure sales is on a rapid pace of decline and is headed toward pre-crisis levels, data released by HOPE NOW on Monday shows that the number of non-foreclosure solutions is falling at almost the same rate.

Borrower outreach events include HUD-approved housing counselors and mortgage servicers in order to give distressed borrowers a face-to-face meeting to work out a solution such as a permanent loan modification that will allow borrowers to remain in their homes. If a home retention solution cannot be worked out, often a non-foreclosure home forfeiture solution is offered such as a short sale or deed-in-lieu of foreclosure.

The current data for foreclosures and mortgage delinquencies shows significant improvement compared to data from five years ago, the universally accepted peak of the mortgage crisis, according to HOPE NOW, a private sector alliance of mortgage servicers, investors, mortgage insurers, and non-profit counselors.

The mortgage industry reported about 122,000 non-foreclosure solutions (including short sales, deeds-in-lieu of foreclosure, and other workout plans) for July, while about 29,000 foreclosures were completed.

For Q2, the number of workout solutions outpaced completed foreclosures by the count of 411,000 to 89,000, which calculates to an average of 4.6 solutions for every foreclosure sale during the quarter.