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78 Illinois RANK: 15 90+ Day Foreclosure Unemployment Delinquency Rate Rate Rate MARCH 2015 1.97% 1.94% 6 YEAR AGO 2.44% 3.07% 7.7 YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -19.5% -36.7% -1.7 Top County PIKE COUNTY 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate MARCH 2015 1.66% 8.34% YEAR AGO 2.51% 5.91% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -33.9% 41.2% Top Core-Based Statistical Area MACOMB, IL 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate MARCH 2015 2.71% 5.42% YEAR AGO 3.45% 4.71% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -21.4% 15.1% 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 March 2015 foreclosure rate. All fi gures are rounded to the nearest decimal. The unemployment rate refl ects preliminary March 2015 fi gures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. All other data courtesy of LPS Data & Analytics. sion deepened and on Chicago's program to raze thousands of properties within the city alone. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac established a partnership with the National Community Stabilization Trust that will leverage ties to community organizations and local nonprof- its to develop and implement strategies for homeowners before and after a foreclosure, according to the FHFA. In pre-foreclosure strategies, the MyCity Modification program will offer services for county residents who are delinquent on their Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac-backed mortgages (valued at $250,000 or less) and facing foreclosure. Borrowers who are 90 days or more delinquent on their mort- gage are eligible for the MyCity Modification Trial Payment Plan, which seeks to reduce a borrower's monthly mortgage payments by up to 60 percent. Mortgage servicers must add any accrued and unpaid interest and any amount paid by the other parties on the borrower's behalf, such as taxes or insurance, to the existing mortgage balance; lower the current interest rate on the mortgage in one-eighth percent- age increments to as much as 2 percent, fixed; extend the term of the loan in one-month increments up to 480 months; and defer re- payment of a portion of the unpaid principal balance. Borrowers who are less than 90 days delinquent may also be eligible. For single-family properties that al- ready have gone through foreclosure and become REOs, eligible NCST buyers will be given the opportunity to buy under NSI's Enhanced First Look program. e final sales price for each property would reflect discounts for marketing, upkeep, utilities, and taxes that Fannie and Freddie accrue in readying the properties, FHFA said. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may also contribute funds for rehabilitation or for the demolition of properties they do not have to do themselves. Future listings also will be offered through the Enhanced First Look process before being listed on the Cook County MLS. IN THE NEWS FHFA Launches Neighborhood Stabilization Pilot Program in Illinois e Federal Housing Finance Agency, through Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, announced the launch of a pilot program designed to stabilize neighborhoods around Chicago that have been hardest hit by the housing downturn. e Neighborhood Stabilization Initiative is a set of strategies that aim to help delin- quent borrowers avoid foreclosure and create a more efficient disposition path for fore- closed properties that will first be introduced in Cook County, Illinois. e housing mar- ket in the county, which contains Chicago, took a precipitous dive at the end of 2008 that took four years to reverse, according to data from DePaul University. Chicago Business frequently reported on the many neighborhoods that became saddled with abandoned homes as the reces- IN THE NEWS Blight Elimination Program Gets Underway in Indiana A blighted property in the northwestern Indiana town of East Chicago was the first to be demolished as part of Indiana's Hard- est Hit Fund Blight Elimination Program (BEP), according to an announcement from Indiana Lt. Gov. Sue Ellspermann. Ellspermann was in attendance along with East Chicago city officials to watch the demolition of the property, which is the first of approximately 62 in the city that will be demolished under the program. e BEP has made about $75 million (approved by the U.S. Department of Treasury) available to the state of Indiana to eliminate blight by reduc- ing foreclosures and stabilizing neighbor- hoods, and about $1.5 million of that money was allocated to East Chicago. "Indiana's Blight Elimination Program is a helpful tool in the fight to prevent avoid- able foreclosures," said Mark McArdle, U.S. Indiana RANK: 17 90+ Day Foreclosure Unemployment Delinquency Rate Rate Rate MARCH 2015 2.20% 1.74% 5.8 YEAR AGO 2.64% 2.20% 6 YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -16.6% -21.1% -0.2 Top County LAWRENCE COUNTY 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate MARCH 2015 3.31% 3.78% YEAR AGO 4.00% 3.77% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -17.1% 0.4% Top Core-Based Statistical Area BEDFORD, IN 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate MARCH 2015 3.31% 3.78% YEAR AGO 4.00% 3.77% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -17.1% 0.4% 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 March 2015 foreclosure rate. All fi gures are rounded to the nearest decimal. The unemployment rate refl ects preliminary March 2015 fi gures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. All other data courtesy of LPS Data & Analytics. With 20,070 bankruptcy filings for the first four months of 2015, Illinois ranked second among states behind only California (28,931), according to AACER bankruptcy data reported by Epiq Systems. KNOW THIS