MHP Publishes Foreclosure Monitor, Which Looks at Recent Decrease in MA Foreclosures - May 31, 2013

BOSTON, May 31, 2013 --- A 2012 law that requires banks to notify borrowers of their rights to pursue a loan modification before foreclosing may be a factor in the precipitous drop in foreclosures in the first quarter of 2013.

Recent news reports trumpeted year-over-year drops in completed foreclosures (75 percent in March, 71 percent in the first quarter of 2013) as evidence that the foreclosure crisis is over. And while rising home sale prices provide hope that the state's housing market has turned a corner, the steep drop may have more to do with banks slowing down their foreclosure processing, which is simlar to what happened in 2008 and 2010 when processing slowdowns by banks caused foreclosure rates to fall dramatically.

In Massachusetts, similar slowdowns due to processing occurred in 2008 and 2010. With this report, MHP was able to get experts in the field on record supporting the claim that the new law may be a factor in the slowdown of foreclosures with one indidvidual stating that the decrease is “somewhat artificial.”

Please click here to read the Foreclosure Monitor on MHP's website.