Foreclosure Rate Drops and Optimism Spikes

Image Credit: The Warren Group/ Boston Globe  

This week, a new study released by the Massachusetts Housing Partnership meant more good news for the Commonwealth's foreclosure prevention movement. The study, using metrics from the data firm RealtyTrac, found that the number of foreclosures in the first quarter of 2013 decreased by 65 percent when compared with the same period last year (see graph for previous foreclosure figures). Many experts attribute this drop to the new state law that took effect on November 1, 2012. See St.2012, c. 194. This law, an amendment to M.G.L c. 244, requires lender to inform borrowers of their loan modification rights, mandates that all mortgage assignments be recorded, and created a task force to consider mediation. However, the full effects of this law and its relationship to the foreclosure rate in Massachusetts will not be felt for months and, in the meantime, housing advocates claim that there is always room for improvement, noting that the law does not apply to investment properties and fell short of establishing mandatory foreclosure mediation.