George Gombossy, CT Watch Dog

To get a sense as to how serious the real estate problem is, a national study shows that it would take more than 10 years to clear up all the pending foreclosures in Connecticut.

And of course Connecticut is not the worst state for real estate problems.

Next door in New York state, it would take lenders 62 years at the current pace to repossess the 213,000 houses now in severe default or foreclosure, according to calculations by LPS  Applied Analytics, a prominent real estate data firm,” according to a New York Times story.

In the 27 states – including Connecticut, New York and Massachusetts – homeowners in default on their mortgages can live for years for free because it now takes much longer for banks to foreclose and evict homeowners. In each of these states judges must approve foreclosures.

There are 21,762 home owners in Connecticut that are 90 days  or more behind on their mortgage payments, the report (available below) shows.

“At the current pace of foreclosure sales (and please note, these sales are when the lender takes possession or there is some other involuntary liquidation – not if you or I were to purchase a foreclosed property from the bank), it would take 245 months, or just over 20 years, to work through the loans currently either 90+ days delinquent or in foreclosure,”  Mitch Cohen, Sr. Vice President, Managing Director, of MPRG, told CtWatchdog. MPRG represents LPS Applied Analytics.

The problem for banks will get worse and homeowners will have even more breathing room as millions of additional homeowners stop paying on their mortgages as more people lose their jobs or are unable to find new work.

Read more here

Kerri Panchuk, Housing Wire

A bill to prevent mortgage lenders from foreclosing on property until a homeowner completes a foreclosure mediation process moved out of the Connecticut Assembly’s banks committee.

If passed, H.B. 6351 would prohibit lenders from ordering a foreclosure sale or default judgment in Connecticut unless the homeowner has been notified of the possibility of seeking mediation assistance and has been allotted enough time to seek help and go through the mediation process.

A lender also would be prohibited from foreclosing unless the borrower has been given enough time to file a mediation request and the request period allowed has expired without the homeowner filing for assistance.

Out of 17 voting lawmakers on the banks committee, 14 voted for the bill.

Read more here