Some Borrowers Get a Breather… For Now
Countrywide filed fewer notices of default in California for the third straight month. So for the moment, homeowners headed towards foreclosure are getting a breather.
Industry experts attribute the decline to the integration of Countrywide with Bank of America. I’m seeing less Countrywide activity myself, for the moment.
However, foreclosure activity seems to go in cycles- the filings of the major servicers seem to ebb and flow. What’s slightly different here is that I’m seeing loans that Bank of America refused to modify now being cued for a review.
Fortunately, on those files, we were able to draw out the process a bit. Our goal was to stall long enough until their position changed. In these cases, the strategies worked out well.
While our clients certainly benefited from this, I often wonder how many more borrowers “slipped through the cracks.”
Since I mostly work with clients who’ve already tried another solution and failed, I know that the number of people who are needlessly losing their homes is much, much higher than it could be.
The mortgage industry has done a great job of fostering this ignorance in the marketplace, with “call your lender” being the mantra constantly repeated in the mainstream media.
Hopefully, this “breather” that Countrywide / Bank of America borrowers are getting will give them an opportunity to get a handle on how this industry really works.
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