NAVIGATING FORECLOSURES IN FACE OF A PANDEMIC: IT’S NOT AS BAD AS IT SEEMS!
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ust 214,323 properties were foreclosed last year or at least were in some sort of foreclosure stage which is surprisingly low compared to the previous lows set in 2019. ATTOM Data Solutions’s study suggests that despite the recession in 2020, the U.S. housing market set the record for the lowest foreclosures ever. Another separate study from Black Knight, a mortgage data firm, shows that foreclosure starts dipped 67 percent from what was recorded in 2019, while the sales of the foreclosed properties dropped 70 percent compared to 2019. IT’S NOT ALL ROSY THOUGH! Well, the data from ATTOM may seem all rosy but 24
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it’s not. In the face of the pandemic, about 2.15 million American homeowners were more than 90 days past due on their mortgages. This shows a 1.7 million rise during the pandemic compared to 2019. The numbers of foreclosed homes in 2020 fell sharply, not because the country was doing well economically, but because most lenders stopped taking back properties. Soon after the pandemic hit the country last March, the federal and states government took affirmative actions pausing the default filings by the lenders. Additionally, the CARES Act came as a saving grace to most people calling for mortgage forbearance, in an attempt to keep struggling homeowners out of the streets. THE POWER IS NOW MAGAZINE | APRIL 2021
