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» VISIT US ONLINE @ DSNEWS.COM 91 Montana RANK: 39 90+ Day Foreclosure Unemployment Delinquency Rate Rate Rate FEBRUARY 2015 1.03% 0.75% 4.3 YEAR AGO 1.05% 0.99% 4.9 YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -2.2% -24.7% -0.6 Top County POWELL COUNTY 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate FEBRUARY 2015 0.85% 2.11% YEAR AGO 0.49% 4.12% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE 73.4% -48.7% Top Core-Based Statistical Area BUTTE-SILVER BOW, MT 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate FEBRUARY 2015 1.57% 1.06% YEAR AGO 1.30% 1.27% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE 20.9% -16.4% 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 February 2015 foreclosure rate. All fi gures are rounded to the nearest decimal. The unemployment rate refl ects preliminary February 2015 fi gures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. All other data courtesy of LPS Data & Analytics. IN THE NEWS Montana Legislation Aimed at Reducing Banks' Liability in Loss Mitigation Lawmakers, particularly Republicans, who are especially concerned with the mortgage finance industry have been seek- ing regulatory relief for banks ever since the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was created in 2011. e same thing is happening at the state level now in Montana, where two bills that were recently heard in the state's House of Representatives were aimed at reducing the amount of liability for banks in lending and other mortgage practices such as loss mitigation. e two bills were introduced on December 5, 2014, by Montana Republican State Sen. Eric Moore. Under SB 280, which "generally revises the loan agreement statute of frauds laws," a borrower would be allowed to sue a lender over contract fraud only if the alleged violation is in writing, thus reversing a ruling from the Montana Supreme Court last year that permitted the use of verbal discus- sions between a borrower and a mortgagee as evidence of fraud in court. SB 281, the stated purpose of which is to "generally revise consumer protection damage laws," would disallow the awarding of punitive damages when a borrower sues a lender for breach of contract. SB 280 was tabled in committee back in March and SB 281 passed out of committee, according to a source familiar with the mat- ter. e two bills had passed in the Montana State Senate on February 23. "SB 281 only limits damages in Consumer Protection Act claims, not in tort claims," Al Smith, executive director of the Montana Trial Lawyers Association, said in an email to DS News. "We hope that the full House will reject the bill so that consumers will be able to obtain full justice when banks fraudulently and negligently misrepresent the 'help' they offer consumers." Distressed and at-risk Montana home- owners spoke out against the two bills in the state's House Business and Labor Commit- tee in March, claiming that their respective mortgagees had misled them verbally with regards to loss mitigation practices. e borrowers said they would have had no legal claim against those mortgagees if these bills had been in enacted before they filed their respective lawsuits against their lenders. According to one media report, bankers in Montana have been advised not to talk to borrowers about distressed loans since last year's Montana Supreme Court ruling because what the bankers say can be used against them in court. Moore, the bills' spon- sor, told the committee that the bills were "commonsense" and that such legislation was needed to protect banks and other financial institutions from frivolous lawsuits, saying they need to be able to inform borrowers of their options regarding delinquent loans without the worry of getting sued. Foreclosures and seriously delinquent mortgage loans typically occur much less frequently in Montana than in other states. Montana consistently ranks near the bottom among states when it comes to foreclosure statistics—the latest CoreLogic data shows that only three states had fewer foreclosures than Montana's total of 832 for the 12-month period from February 2014 to January 2015. Montana's serious delinquency rate of 1.7 percent for January was less than half of the national average of 4 percent for the month. Nevada RANK: 15 90+ Day Foreclosure Unemployment Delinquency Rate Rate Rate FEBRUARY 2015 2.98% 1.98% 7.1 YEAR AGO 3.99% 2.86% 8.4 YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -25.3% -31.0% -1.3 Top County WHITE PINE COUNTY 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate FEBRUARY 2015 2.48% 3.38% YEAR AGO 3.54% 0.59% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -29.9% 474.6% Top Core-Based Statistical Area PAHRUMP, NV 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate FEBRUARY 2015 3.63% 3.30% YEAR AGO 4.03% 4.85% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -9.9% -32.0% 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 February 2015 foreclosure rate. All fi gures are rounded to the nearest decimal. The unemployment rate refl ects preliminary February 2015 fi gures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. All other data courtesy of LPS Data & Analytics. New Mexico RANK: 6 90+ Day Foreclosure Unemployment Delinquency Rate Rate Rate FEBRUARY 2015 1.81% 2.30% 6 YEAR AGO 1.95% 2.53% 6.7 YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -7.2% -9.1% -0.7 Top County TORRANCE COUNTY 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate FEBRUARY 2015 2.80% 5.37% YEAR AGO 2.38% 5.74% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE 17.6% -6.4% Top Core-Based Statistical Area GRANTS, NM 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate FEBRUARY 2015 1.89% 4.49% YEAR AGO 1.66% 4.55% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE 13.5% -1.3% 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 February 2015 foreclosure rate. All fi gures are rounded to the nearest decimal. The unemployment rate refl ects preliminary February 2015 fi gures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. All other data courtesy of LPS Data & Analytics.

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