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» VISIT US ONLINE @ DSNEWS.COM 85 glass so it enhances neighborhoods, protects property values and secures properties so they can be returned to the market more quickly in a more stable and marketable condition." Others in the industry had already taken notice of the effects of plywood on vacant homes and communities even before H.B. 463 was signed into law. In early November at the National Property Preservation Conference, Fannie Mae announced a new allowable pro- moting the use of polycarbonate clearboarding instead of plywood on pre-foreclosure proper- ties. Starting November 9, all vacant Fannie Mae-owned properties, whether in pre- or post-foreclosure state or REO, were required to be secured with a plywood alternative. H.B. 463 will go into effect 90 days from the time the governor signed it into law, which occurred on January 4. Ohio Ranks Ninth for Foreclosures Nationwide In Ohio, foreclosures are down to their lowest level since 2006, but the state still ranks pretty high for foreclosures compared to other states, according to ATTOM Data Solutions. Ohio had the ninth-highest foreclosure rate in the nation for the year in 2016. Still, the foreclosure rate remains below 1 percent for the state. About one in every 1,292 homes in Ohio received foreclosure notices in December, according to ATTOM. ree of Ohio's metros ranked notably high for foreclosure activity in December. Out of 216 metros, Cleveland came in at No. 20; Akron came in at 26; and Dayton was No. 31. "ere's this long tale of distress," said Daren Blomquist, SVP for ATTOM Data Solutions, according to the Dayton Daily News. "It's still reeling many markets in Ohio." In 2016, foreclosures declined 14 percent from a year earlier in Ohio with a total of 933,045 homes foreclosed over the year, accord- ing to ATTOM. "Generally speaking, the real estate market is the strongest it's been since the recession," Karen O'Grady, President of the Dayton Area Board of Realtors and a real estate agent with Coldwell Banker Heritage Realtors, told the Dayton Daily News. Similarly, Lisa Smedley, President of the Springfield Board of Realtors told the Dayton Daily News, that foreclosures had declined noticeably in her area while prices were rising. "I could work seven days a week," she said. "I only stop working because I'm tired." e Dayton area is an attractive market for investors, Michael Martin, a former Dayton Area Board of Realtors president noted to Dayton Daily News. WISCONSIN Mortgage Foreclosures See Significant Drop Residents of Wisconsin found themselves questioning their mortgage situation during the economic recession, but in January, econo- mists reported that mortgage foreclosures have fallen to numbers that haven't been seen in over two decades. According to Russell Kashian, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, the number of foreclosure filings in the state have peaked in 2009 at 28,500. ose filings were credited to be about a quarter of the 2009 level last year. He credits the decrease in mortgage foreclosure filings to an improved economy and job growth as well as restruc- tured residential lending rules. "You had creative financing matched up with people who traditionally weren't buying homes," he said. "You brought people into the marketplace who weren't necessarily ready at that point to be in the marketplace. And you had buyers of bonds who were thrilled to invest in American real estate financing." Last year, there were 3,974 mortgage foreclosure filings in Kenosha, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Walworth, Washington, and Waukesha counties, which was less than a third of the amount in 2009 and 2010, which were cited as the toughest years of the economic crisis. Court records for the counties show that filings were also down almost 22 percent from 5,073 filings in 2015. THE LEADER IN DEFAULT SERVICING NEWS Help shape the next issue of DS News. Drop us a line at Editor@DSNews.com. Wisconsin's negative equity rate is at 4.3 percent, which is 0.1 percent less than the national average, according to Black Knight Financial Services' November 2016 Mortgage Monitor. KNOW THIS

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