Notice of Defaults (NODs) recorded in May 2010 totaled 23,911. That is:

  • a 17% drop from April one month earlier (28,897); and
  • a 44% drop from May one year earlier (42,203).

Notice of Trustee Sales (NOTS) totaled 27,841 in May 2010 had a similar trend:

  • a 12% drop from April one month earlier (31,594); and
  • a 35% drop from May one year earlier (43,355).

These numbers are baffling to those at Foreclosure Radar, who feel we should be seeing a large increase in foreclosures as opposed to this significant monthly decrease. However, they do speculate the drop in numbers may be due to the fact that lenders, with the massive amount of foreclosures they have to deal with, are now taking a much longer time to engage in, process and complete foreclosures.

At least better processing will stop what is becoming a tremendous amount of litigation over foreclosures. It’s a shame mediation will never be used to settle the population’s negative equity issues; lenders will make sure to keep negotiations a one-way street, and will likely never allow mediation to be used between themselves and their insolvent borrowers.

first tuesday take: It is now taking lenders in California, on average, over a year after the first delinquency to complete a trustee’s foreclosure sale.  While the NOD numbers reflect a monthly decline, in actuality the number of trustee’s foreclosure sales California is experiencing is still on the rise. [For more information on the time it takes for lenders to foreclose upon delinquent homeowners, see the June 2010 first tuesday article, The contagious default strategy: stay and play.]

Re: “California Foreclosure Activity Drops” from Foreclosure Radar