Foreclosure Rate is Falling

As the nation's largest banks put a freeze on foreclosures this fall, fewer homeowners are losing their homes.

The monthly foreclosure market report showed foreclosure filings declined 4 percent in October, compared to September. The volume of filings stayed about the same when compared to the same time last year. More than 332,000 homes nationwide received a foreclosure filing last month, including,

• bank repossessions
• default notices
• scheduled auctions.

The fallout from the economic downturn is still greatly impacting the housing market. October represented the 20th consecutive month where more than 300,000 homeowners received a foreclosure notice. Bank repossessions have been most impacted by the foreclosure freeze, falling 8.7 percent.

The freeze is due to the fallout over foreclosure documents by lenders being rubber stamped without employees reading thoroughly over the paperwork. The controversy and alleged fraud surrounds what's being called "robo-signings." That's where individual cases were simply stamped and processed without being reviewed on a case-by-case basis, which some politicians say is against the law.
For now as banks review their foreclosure paperwork procedures, many homeowners facing foreclosure have been given a reprieve.

Foreclosure Impact
As homeowners struggle and fall behind with mortgage payments, the number of people losing their homes remains alarmingly high. Before October, four of the previous six months saw foreclosure rates jump, including an all-time high in September, when 102,000 people lost their homes. 93,246 homes were still repossessed last month.

138,361 homes in October were set to head to auction, that's a 3 percent drop from a month earlier, and a 6 percent rise from year ago levels.