Foreclosure rates across the decreased 8 percent in February, but RealtyTrac warns that banks and mortgage servicers are beginning to clear their backlog of troubled homes, which will soon flood the market.
RealtyTrac, an Irvine, California based firm that track housing date said that 1 in 637 homes received a default notice. These homes will eventually end up on the market unless a foreclosure attorney is able to stop the action.
Overall foreclosure activity was down 8 percent in February over last year.
Foreclosure starts were delayed by banks as they worked to overhaul their filing and paperwork processes, but now that federal investigation has been concluded and a $25 billion settlement has been paid out, foreclosure rates are anticipated to increase dramatically.
Vice President of RealtyTrac, Daren Blomquist told NPR, “We’re not just seeing an increase in properties starting the foreclosure process as we have in previous months, but we’re starting to see dramatic increases in properties completing the foreclosure process in many of those judicial foreclosure states.”
This means that these homes will flood the housing market and further depress housing prices, which has been affecting the overall economy. If these homes can be saved by an experienced foreclosure attorney or can be sold it could help the housing market recover.
Homeowners, who wish to stay in their homes, can hire a foreclosure lawyer to negotiate for a mortgage modification or challenge a bank’s decision in court if allowed by state law.
