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ยป VISIT US ONLINE @ DSNEWS.COM 83 in an attempt to work a foreclosure alterna- tive such as a loan modification or short sale. According to Zoeller, the Indiana Supreme Court's Mortgage Foreclosure Trial Court reported a total of 13,341 settlement confer- ences during a nearly five-year period between April 2010 and January 2015. According to the court, 7,002 of those conferences (more than half) resulted in a "workout" of delinquent mortgage payments or some type of mutually agreeable settlement, and out of those settle- ments, the borrowers were able to stay in their homes in 6,174 of them. e AG's office also helped 125 homeowners achieve loss mitiga- tion, such as a loan modification or short sale between January 2013 and July 2014. Zoeller said the settlement conference is being eliminated because of a proposed amendment that was added to a Senate bill in January requiring municipalities to keep a registry of persons who abuse the tax process in relation to vacant, abandoned, and often blighted properties. Zoeller said he does not object to the bill itself, which would help mu- nicipalities eliminate blight; but he is opposed to the amendment, which would remove the 2011 reforms that put the settlement confer- ence in place and would eliminate a distressed homeowner's right to have such a conference with the mortgagee to avoid foreclosure. Zoeller has been urging lawmakers not to include this amendment to the Senate bill. ose in favor of the amendment say that settlement conferences are "duplicative" and "unnecessarily time consuming," since lend- ers are required by the Dodd-Frank Act to administrate loss mitigation efforts. Zoeller argues that removing the settlement confer- ence would take away the homeowner's last resort before foreclosure, and also that settle- ment conferences tend to have higher rates of success for keeping borrowers in their homes than other loss mitigation attempts. He said his office still receives about 500 complaints per year on average with regards to mortgage servicing, so he still believes that the settle- ment conference should be maintained. "e worst of the foreclosures may be behind us, but that's no reason to grow complacent and take away this procedure that provides a measure of fairness for distressed homeowners in dire financial situations," Zoeller said. "It is imperative that lawmakers act in the best interest of their homeowner- constituents and do the right thing to preserve this important and effective tool for home- owners. Lawmakers should remove this offensive amendment from the bill and shelve the amendment permanently, and allow settlement conferences to continue." Iowa RANK: 27 90+ Day Foreclosure Unemployment Delinquency Rate Rate Rate NOVEMBER 2014 1.46% 1.34% 4.1 YEAR AGO 1.64% 1.92% 4.2 YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -11.2% -30.0% -0.1 Top County KEOKUK COUNTY 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate NOVEMBER 2014 1.90% 3.54% YEAR AGO 1.90% 3.07% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -0.4% 15.4% Top Core-Based Statistical Area FORT MADISON-KEOKUK, IA-IL-MO 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate NOVEMBER 2014 3.57% 4.23% YEAR AGO 3.02% 3.33% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE 18.2% 26.9% note: The 90+ day delinquecy rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans that are seriously delinquent. The foreclosure rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans currently in foreclosure. State rank is based on the November 2014 foreclosure rate. All fi gures are rounded to the nearest decimal. The unemployment rate refl ects preliminary November 2014 fi gures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. All other data courtesy of LPS Data & Analytics. Kansas RANK: 31 90+ Day Foreclosure Unemployment Delinquency Rate Rate Rate NOVEMBER 2014 2.02% 1.07% 4.2 YEAR AGO 2.18% 1.28% 4.9 YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -7.7% -16.5% -0.7 Top County LABETTE COUNTY 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate NOVEMBER 2014 4.86% 4.61% YEAR AGO 4.56% 3.77% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE 6.5% 22.3% Top Core-Based Statistical Area PARSONS, KS 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate NOVEMBER 2014 4.86% 4.61% YEAR AGO 4.56% 3.77% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE 6.5% 22.3% note: The 90+ day delinquecy rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans that are seriously delinquent. The foreclosure rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans currently in foreclosure. State rank is based on the November 2014 foreclosure rate. All fi gures are rounded to the nearest decimal. The unemployment rate refl ects preliminary November 2014 fi gures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. All other data courtesy of LPS Data & Analytics. Michigan RANK: 42 90+ Day Foreclosure Unemployment Delinquency Rate Rate Rate NOVEMBER 2014 1.88% 0.66% 6.3 YEAR AGO 2.27% 0.91% 8.3 YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -17.3% -27.2% -2 Top County GRATIOT COUNTY 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate NOVEMBER 2014 2.84% 1.76% YEAR AGO 4.22% 1.66% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -32.7% 5.8% Top Core-Based Statistical Area ALMA, MI 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate NOVEMBER 2014 2.84% 1.76% YEAR AGO 4.22% 1.66% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -32.7% 5.8% note: The 90+ day delinquecy rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans that are seriously delinquent. The foreclosure rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans currently in foreclosure. State rank is based on the November 2014 foreclosure rate. All fi gures are rounded to the nearest decimal. The unemployment rate refl ects preliminary November 2014 fi gures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. All other data courtesy of LPS Data & Analytics. THE LEADER IN DEFAULT SERVICING NEWS Help shape the next issue of DS News. Drop us a line at Editor@DSNews.com.