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» VISIT US ONLINE @ DSNEWS.COM 87 volumes despite experiencing large declines in foreclosure inventory. Among states, Florida had the largest year-over-year decline in fore- closure inventory for April with 45.6 percent. Connecticut was next with 35.8 percent. In all, six states experienced year-over-year declines in foreclosure inventory of more than 30 percent in April. Overall, foreclosure inventory declined by about 25 percent year-over-year nationwide in April down to about 521,000 homes (about 1.4 percent of homes with a mortgage). CoreLogic Chief Economist Frank Nothaft said contribut- ing factors to the decline were "employment recovery, foreclosure alternatives, and home- value gains." Foreclosure Changes from the 84th Texas Legislature By Sean Coté, Buckley Madole, P.C. In a slew of new bills passed into law by the 84th Texas Legislature, House Bills 2066, 2067, and 2063, call for some important changes in the Texas non-judicial foreclosure process. House Bill 2066, effective September 1, 2015, amends the Texas Property Code to allow mortgagees, trustees, and substitute trustees 15 calendar days to unilaterally rescind a defective foreclosure sale by serving written notice on the purchaser and borrower(s) and filing the notice of rescission in the applicable county property records. e mortgagee then has five calendar days to return purchase funds to the purchaser and file an affidavit stating that the bid amount was returned. is new process should help provide a more formalized roadmap for certain sale rescis- sions instead of the largely informal, divergent process that exists today. ough the proposed bill originally al- lowed for 60 calendar days to rescind the sale, opponents argued that the law would have a chilling effect on third party bidding at sales. e legislature compromised by lowering the 60 day time period to 15 calendar days so as to limit any negative effects on the bidding process. e law also limits damages that can be awarded in a lawsuit challenging a rescis- sion-- it specifically states that a civil action filed by a purchaser challenging the effective- ness of the rescission or claiming damages must be filed within 30 days of notice of the rescission and the purchaser may only recover damages in the amount of the bid paid for the property at the sale plus interest on that amount at a rate of 10 percent per year. Although the law's implementation could help prevent some forms of litigation or uncertainty concerning rescissions, there will certainly be defects and issues arising outside the 15 day timeline. It should also be noted that this law does not preclude other methods of rescission, such as rescission by agreement. House Bill 2067, effective June 17, 2015, amends the Texas Civil Practice and Rem- edies Code to allow for rescission or wavier of an acceleration of the maturity date on certain debt secured by a lien on real property. Es- sentially, the act clarifies a method for unilat- erally rescinding the accelerated maturity date of a loan. A mortgagee, trustee, or substitute trustee need only serve the borrower(s) writ- ten notice via first class or certified mail of the rescission or waiver as long as the statute of limitations has not yet expired. An affidavit by a person knowledgeable of the facts to the effect that service was completed is prima facie evidence that service was completed. e act gives an important clarification on how accelerated maturity can be de- accelerated, which has become an important litigation issue in Texas and other states due to expanded loss mitigation and foreclosure timelines. Importantly, the lienholder may accelerate the maturity date again at any time and the rescission or waiver does not waive past defaults. e statute became effective immediately and even validated any rescission or waiver notice properly sent before the law was enacted. Finally, House Bill 2063, effec- tive September 1, 2015, aims to avoid some of the confusion surrounding the recording of certain foreclosure documents. It amends the Property Code to require county clerks to record any notice of sale, appointment of substitute trustee, notice of default, or any statement of facts regarding a foreclosure sale by an attorney representing the trustee, substitute trustee, or mortgage servicer, as well as any pertinent proof of service of the mailing of any notice related to the foreclosure sale. e law does not require any of these documents to be recorded by the mortgagee, but merely allows the documents to be recorded as an attachment to a substitute trustee's deed or an affidavit of the substitute trustee for purposes of clarity. e statute also provides specific language required if the mortgagee chooses to include the appoint- ment of substitute trustee(s) in the notice of sale. Overall, and over a period of time, the new law should provide consistency in what county officers allow to be recorded into record, and what title companies expect to see recorded by a foreclosure firm for purposes of orderly post-sale conveyance. West Virginia RANK: 30 90+ Day Foreclosure Unemployment Delinquency Rate Rate Rate APRIL 2015 2.15% 1.07% 7 YEAR AGO 2.37% 1.12% 6.8 YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -9.5% -4.7% 0.2 Top County WYOMING COUNTY 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate APRIL 2015 3.18% 2.35% YEAR AGO 4.16% 1.69% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -23.5% 39.0% Top Core-Based Statistical Area LOGAN, WV 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate APRIL 2015 2.99% 1.85% YEAR AGO 3.40% 1.28% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -12.0% 43.9% 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 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. Virginia RANK: 46 90+ Day Foreclosure Unemployment Delinquency Rate Rate Rate APRIL 2015 1.55% 0.58% 4.8 YEAR AGO 1.85% 0.64% 5.3 YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -15.9% -9.1% -0.5 Top County ALLEGHANY COUNTY 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate APRIL 2015 0.18% 2.41% YEAR AGO 2.51% 1.06% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -93.0% 126.6% Top Core-Based Statistical Area BIG STONE GAP, VA 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate APRIL 2015 3.00% 1.86% YEAR AGO 2.62% 2.05% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE 14.5% -9.1% 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.

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