The US economy is in the throes of a deep recession. Unemployment is at its peak of 10% As people lose jobs even those with very sound credit history are faltering on mortgage payments. Hence, foreclosures have become common. In Delaware, quarterly foreclosures have increased by 46.3 % In comparison, the nationwide figures have increased by 16 %. It may be noted that nationwide, one out of every 138 homes got a foreclosure notice. Foreclosures have increased by 8 per cent. This was pointed out by RealtyTrac. One out of 324 homes in Delaware has received a foreclosure notice. This is one of the worst records in USA. In Nevada, one out of each 33 houses is foreclosed. Banks too have become very active. They are foreclosing many more homes now.
As a senior executive of RealtyTrac, Rick Sharga pointed out, "The banks are finally working through it. Were seeing a resolution for properties that were in foreclosure but where seizure was delayed."
Last year, the Obama government had come up with a plan to modify the loans of homeowners. As part of this program, the mortgages are modified first on a temporary basis of three months, and then permanently. The program had started off on a slow pitch. Now the Federal government has put pressure on the banks to revise home loans fast.
Some states have also come up with moratoriums in order to give the house owners some time to make payments. Banks are also facing the problem of loans that are problematic.
All these factors have made foreclosures slow. However, there is a reversal of the trend now. According to RealtyTrac, banks have been very active and seized one million homes. There are no chances of foreclosures leveling off for a period now.
The situation could get worse because the job scenario has not improved. People are losing jobs. What is worse is that many homes have a negative equity. That means homeowners owe more on their homes than what they are worth. These people find it more convenient to walk out of their homes. Experts observe that the $75 billion program have not helped a large section of people.