The Boston Herald reports that 1 in 10 households with a mortgage could face foreclosure this summer. Approximately 9.9 percent have missed at least one of their mortgage payments, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. It seems that there are more homeowners struggling with their mortgages. The number of homeowners having issues with making mortgage payments was steadily moving downward, but has recently risen.
As more Americans are facing unemployment and reduced working hours at work, foreclosures have risen and are expected to continue to rise. Over 2.3 million homes have been foreclosed on by lenders since December 2007. Jay Brinkmann, Mortgage Bankers Association's top economist, said: "Ultimately the housing story, whether it is delinquencies, homes sales or housing starts, is an employment story. Only when we see a consistent increase in employment will we see an increase in sales and starts, and a sustained improvement in the delinquency numbers."
Other devastating effects of foreclosures are now visible. Foreclosures have been dropping home values and have rippled into other areas of the real estate industry. Homebuilders can not compete with such low prices in the market and potential sellers are discouraged from putting their homes on the market. Federal aid has not helped much either. As we covered earlier, the foreclosure prevention program lost almost half of the homeowners who initially enrolled in the program. Those who have dropped out of the program claim that the bureaucracy in the program and lender's hesitance to grant modifications are reasons why they left. Homeowners got frustrated.
If you have questions about the process of foreclosure, speaking to a Boston real estate attorney about your legal options could help. For more general information, please visit our Related Resources links.
Related Resources:
- Getting Mortgage Modifications Gets Tougher (FindLaw's Boston Real Estate Law News Blog)
- Meet With A Boston Real Estate Lawyer (FindLaw)
- Homeowners Leave Obama's Mortgage Aid Program (FindLaw's Boston Real Estate Law News Blog)
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