03 Feb 09 Home Loan Defaults and the State of California Housing

A law that requires mortgage lenders to discuss ways to avoid foreclosure with California borrowers before filing a default notice went into effect in September. Defaults plunged to 14,995 that month, and were back up to 39,993 in December. `No one expected defaults to stay at the much lower levels we saw immediately after the new law took effect,” MDA DataQuick President John Walsh said in a statement.

In a recent report, MDA DataQuick said that California home loan defaults declined 7.7 % in the 4^th quarter after the state enacted a law to delay home foreclosures. California homeowners received 75,230 default notices in the fourth quarter, down from 81,550 a year earlier. 4th quarter defaults dropped 20% from the previous three months, according to DataQuick. Kelly Media Group President, Jason Cardiff commented, “When homeowners are waiting to modify their home loan, most mortgage lenders don’t report loan defaults even if the borrower is behind six months.” Cardiff continued, this means “We need to be extremely cautious when considering foreclosure data and housing reports.” See the complete California real estate article> Southern California Home Sales up 50% but Most Are Foreclosures.