Even though mortgage delinquency rates have fallen by five percent since May, a record 1.45 million homeowners are seriously delinquent on their mortgages, according to figures from Black Knight.
The number of delinquencies has improved for 12 of the last 14 months, with only two increases in delinquencies reported. However, delinquency volumes have continued to increase to the point of pre-pandemic levels. According to Black Knight, around 1.45 million borrowers are at least 90 days delinquent on their mortgages as of the end of July. This stage of the process is known as a late-stage delinquency, meaning the borrower is not in foreclosure but is dangerously close. Black Knight reported that this figure was one million more than at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of these borrowers are still working with their lenders on forbearance plans.
According to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s (MBA) National Delinquency Survey, mortgage delinquencies, as a whole, have been at their lowest levels since the first quarter of 2020. These mortgages include conventional loans, as well as FHA and VA. The decrease in mortgage delinquencies for FHA and VA loans represented the largest quarterly decline seen by MBA since 1979.
Several factors could be at play to explain this second quarter improvement for later-stage delinquencies. Many housing experts attribute it to improved employment for borrowers, as well as other economic factors, including the strong housing market, allowing borrowers to refinance to be able to continue paying their monthly mortgage payments. Refinancing allows them to lower their costs and take advantage of the current low interest rates.
However, for those borrowers who are not so lucky, foreclosure remains a distinct possibility. Experts fear that many borrowers who are seriously delinquent will not be able to take advantage of these programs or be able to catch up on payments in time to prevent foreclosure from proceeding. Now that the moratoriums on foreclosures and evictions is lifted, lenders are now free to pursue foreclosures on these delinquent loans, which housing experts fear will result in a wave of foreclosure proceedings hitting the court system.
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Choosing the right attorney can make the difference between keeping your home or losing it in foreclosure. A well-qualified Miami foreclosure defense attorney will not only help you keep your home, but they will be able to negotiate a loan that has payments you can afford. Miami foreclosure defense attorney Timothy Kingcade has helped many facing foreclosure alleviate their stress by letting them stay in their homes for at least another year, allowing them to re-organize their lives. If you have any questions on the topic of foreclosure, please feel free to contact me at (305) 285-9100. You can also find useful consumer information on the Kingcade Garcia McMaken website at www.miamibankruptcy.com