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» VISIT US ONLINE @ DSNEWS.COM 81 NEW YORK NYC Sees Drop in Foreclosure Activity Across the country, reports came in early this year showing decreases in foreclosure activity. In the New York City area, Property Shark reported foreclosures had dropped 15 percent year over year in Q1 2017. Most areas of the city noted drops in foreclosure activity, except for Brooklyn. Brooklyn was the only borough of New York City to report an increase in foreclosures, increasing 24 percent over 2016. Other areas of the country have seen drops in foreclosure activity. For February 2017, Black Knight reported 1.31 percent year-over-year drop in foreclosure starts. Foreclosure starts dropped by nearly 18 percent month over month in February to 57,900, coming off of January's jump, which Black Knight called a "normal byproduct of the typical October–November yearly peak in serious delinquencies." Black Knight data shows that there was a total of 2,605,000 homes in foreclosure or past due at the end of February, a negative difference of 302,000. e current number of homes in foreclosure is at 470,000, the lowest level since June 2007. New York seemed to follow this trend. Last year saw a heavy increase in foreclosed properties in the city, and the 15 percent drop in 2017 came as a relief. First-time foreclosures dropped 11 percent in Q1 2017 as well. Areas like the Bronx had a particularly rough 2016, with a jump in foreclosures of approximately 37 percent. However, Q1 2017's foreclosure data revealed similar drops in the rest of the city, as foreclosures fell 33 percent in the Bronx. Property Shark reported that 68 homes were scheduled to be auctioned in the Bronx in Q1 2017, a drop from 102 in Q1 2016. Preforeclosures have been dropping in New York City for several years. Property Shark noted that 3,082 homeowners had lis pendens cases on their properties in Q1 2017, a 16 percent decrease from 2016. Morgan Stanley Makes Headway on NY Settlement Morgan Stanley has completed 77 percent of its consumer relief obligations under its settlement with the State of New York, after receiving conditional approval of nearly $200 million in credit for a number of recent relief- related activities. e news was announced by Eric D. Green, Independent Monitor of the Morgan Stanley Mortgage Settlement, on April 3. According to Green, Morgan Stanley's recent consumer-relief activities included 14 grants to counties and municipalities to support certified land banks, 75 grants to municipalities and eligible agencies to support housing quality improvement and enforcement programs, and four actions to fund critical- need rental housing developments. ese activities amounted to more than $198 million, which included $28 million for certified land banks, $28 million for housing quality improvement and enforcement programs, and $141 million for rental housing units. With the newly approved $200 million, the total amount of Morgan Stanley's cumulative credit is now at $309.1 million—77 percent of the $400 million it agreed to in its February 2016 case with New York State. e agreement settled claims that the organization had violated state law in its handlings of residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS). "With these actions," Green said, "Morgan Stanley has continued to provide consumer relief to New York communities in need of housing assistance." e total settlement agreement was $3.2 billion—$550 million of which was to be paid to New York State. e remaining $400 million must be paid in consumer relief by the end of September 2019. In August, the organization began fulfilling its relief obligations by settling debt owed on 19 first-lien mortgage loans totaling $10.4 million in reportable credit. is move represented less than 3 percent of Morgan Stanley's total obligation. is marks Green's third report on the bank's consumer-relief activities. Green is a professional mediator and retired law professor from Boston University. THE LEADER IN DEFAULT SERVICING NEWS Help shape the next issue of DS News. Drop us a line at Editor@DSNews.com. The state drop in foreclosure activity in Q1 2017. Additionally, first-time foreclosures dropped 11 percent that quarter. Source: Black Knight STAT INSIGHT 15%

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