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FORECLOSURES DOWN TO 69,000 IN MARCH Year-over-year, the number of completed foreclosures decreased about 19 percent to 69,000 in March 2012 compared to 85,000 in March 2011, according to CoreLogic's National Foreclosure Report for March. Month-over-month with the number of completed foreclosures in February 2012 at 66,000, foreclosures increased about 4.5 percent in March 2012. Overall, since the start of the financial crisis in September 2008, there were approximately 3.5 million completed foreclosures, CoreLogic says. In addition to the yearly decrease in completed foreclosures, the number of loans in the foreclosure inventory decreased by nearly 6 percent, or 100,000, in March 2012 compared to the year before. "Since the foreclosure inventory is also coming down, this suggests that loan modifications, short sales, and deeds-in-lieu are increasingly being used as an alternative to foreclosures to clear distressed assets in our communities. This is what was envisioned with the recent National Foreclosure Settlement and can often be a better outcome for both borrowers and investors," said Anand Nallathambi, CEO of CoreLogic. Out of all homes with a mortgage, approximately 1.4 million homes, or 3.4 percent, were in the national foreclosure inventory as of March 2012 compared to 1.5 million, or 3.5 percent, the same month a year ago, and 1.4 million, or 3.4 HOPE NOW REPORTS 207,000 COMPLETED MODS FOR Q1 At 207,000, permanent loan modifications completed by servicers during the first quarter of 2012 decreased by 31 percent compared to a year ago the same quarter, according to data released by HOPE NOW. Of the total, approximately 147,000 were proprietary modifications and 60,225 were Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) mods. Additionally, 72 percent, or 105,000, of the proprietary modifications reduced principal and interest payments by more than 10 percent, and 77 percent of the mods included principal and interest payment reductions. Overall, since 2007, servicers have completed 5.42 million permanent loan modifications, HOPE NOW reports. "We continue to be encouraged by the efforts of mortgage servicers, nonprofit counselors, and others to educate homeowners on their options and find viable solutions for home retention or graceful exit 38 in some cases," said Faith Schwartz, HOPE NOW executive director. In instances where home retention is not an option, Schwartz said, "the focus shifts to community stabilization through improving the short sale process and deed-in-lieu process." Serious delinquencies, loans 60 or more days past due, declined to 2.65 million, a 7 percent decrease compared to a year ago. Foreclosure starts and sales were also down from the same year-ago period. Foreclosure starts numbered 545,000, a decline of 8 percent compared to the year before. First-quarter foreclosure sales were 214,000, a 4 percent decrease compared to a year earlier. HOPE NOW is an industry-created alliance of mortgage servicers, investors, counselors, and other mortgage market participants who work to help homeowners prevent foreclosure. percent, in the prior month of February. Delinquencies are also down with the share of borrowers nationally who were more than 90 days late on their mortgage payment, including homes in foreclosure and real estate owned (REO) assets, dropping to 7 percent in March 2012 from 7.5 percent a year ago, and remained unchanged compared to the prior month. "The overall delinquency level was unchanged in March, remaining at its lowest point since July 2009," said Mark Fleming, CoreLogic's chief economist. The distressed clearing ratio for March was up at 0.81 compared to 0.76 in February 2012. A higher ratio indicates a faster pace of REO sales relative to the pace of completed foreclosures. As for individual states, strides were more notably made with non-judicial states. "Non-judicial foreclosure markets like Nevada, Arizona, and California are experiencing significant improvements in their shares of delinquent borrowers. Some judicial foreclosure states are also improving, like Florida, but not to the extent of non-judicial markets," said Fleming. KNOW THIS A national survey by Money Management International found 63% of respondents who sought assistance with their mortgage payments did so when they were 1-3 months behind; 22% were 4-6 months behind; and 4% were 7 or more months late before they sought help.

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