State-to-state variations in foreclosure rates are caused more by local regulations, inventories, and the way each state's courts handle mortgage defaults than by national headlines. This study examines the present 50-state landscape, discusses why certain states often rank higher, and outlines the tools available to homeowners prior to the foreclosure process.
Every borrower situation is different, and so is every state. That is the first thing to know about foreclosure-rate rankings. When you read that one state has a foreclosure rate of one in roughly 1,500 housing units and another has one in 50,000, that does not tell you the homeowners in the higher-rate state are worse with money. It tells you the local rules, the local court system, the local economy, and the local housing inventory all interact in different ways. Two states with similar income levels and similar housing prices can post very different foreclosure rates because of the way their statutes handle a defaulted loan.
A foreclosure rate, as published by ATTOM Data Solutions in the U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, counts the number of housing units in a state with a foreclosure filing during a reporting period. A foreclosure filing can be a default notice, a scheduled auction, or a bank repossession. The rate is expressed as one filing per X housing units. A lower X means more foreclosure activity relative to the state's housing stock. ATTOM publishes these rankings monthly, and the top and bottom of the list shifts from month to month even when underlying conditions are stable.
That metric is not the same as the share of mortgages that are in active foreclosure inventory at the end of a quarter. The Mortgage Bankers Association tracks that figure separately in its National Delinquency Survey, expressed as a percentage of serviced loans. Both measures matter, and a state can rank high on one and not the other depending on whether the issue is new filings flowing in or older cases sitting in inventory. AmeriSave loan officers regularly help borrowers separate the headline number from the picture that actually applies to their file. The state-level rate tells you the climate. Your file tells you the forecast.
For most homeowners reading this, the single most useful number is the one for your own state and your own situation. The conversation with a loan officer or housing counselor usually starts with a question, not a statistic: how far behind are you, what does your equity position look like, and what is your income situation today versus when the loan closed. A homeowner who is current and has 30% equity is in a very different place than a homeowner who is two months behind with 5% equity, regardless of which state they live in.
There is no single reason one state shows up in the top ten and another shows up in the bottom ten. Usually it is some combination of the items below.
Roughly half the states use a judicial foreclosure process, where the lender must file suit in court to foreclose on the property. The other half use a non-judicial process, sometimes called a power-of-sale process, where the foreclosure proceeds outside of court under the terms of the deed of trust. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau provides plain-language explanations of both for homeowners trying to figure out which one applies in their state.
Judicial states typically have longer foreclosure timelines, which can run well over 1,000 days from initial default to completed foreclosure in the slowest jurisdictions. According to ATTOM's most recent quarterly market report, the longest average completion timelines are found in Louisiana, Nevada, Rhode Island, New York, and Hawaii, with Louisiana measured in thousands of days. Non-judicial states are usually faster, sometimes wrapping up in roughly 130 to 180 days from notice of default depending on local statute. The same ATTOM report shows West Virginia, Texas, Virginia, Wyoming, and Montana with the shortest average completion timelines. Neither process is inherently better or worse for the homeowner. They are different paths to the same legal outcome with different cure-period windows along the way.
Because judicial states leave cases sitting in court inventory for extended periods, they tend to show higher reported foreclosure-rate numbers in monthly snapshots even when underlying delinquency is improving. That is one reason states like Illinois, Delaware, and Florida have appeared near the top of the list across multiple market cycles. AmeriSave borrowers in judicial states often have more time to pursue a loss-mitigation option than borrowers in non-judicial states, but the time gets used only if the homeowner engages with the servicer early.
States with concentrated employment in volatile industries, including states whose largest metros are tied to a single sector, can see foreclosure rates rise faster than the national average when that sector contracts. Energy-producing states have shown this pattern during downturns in oil prices. Tourism-heavy states have shown it during sharp drops in travel.
Housing inventory matters too. States with rapid new construction during the past decade often have a higher share of recently originated loans on the books, which can shift their delinquency profile relative to states with mostly seasoned mortgages. The Federal Reserve's Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit tracks new-versus-seasoned origination patterns at the national level, and the state-level effect typically follows. The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes state-level employment and unemployment data that homeowners can pair with foreclosure data to understand the underlying drivers in their region.
A foreclosure rate is a fraction. The numerator is filings. The denominator is housing units. States with very small total housing stocks can show low absolute filing counts and still rank near the top because there are not many housing units to spread the filings across. States with extremely large housing stocks, such as California and Texas, can have substantial absolute filing volumes and still rank in the middle because the denominator is so large.
This is why the headline rankings can shift more than the underlying borrower experience. The rate does not always tell you whether the foreclosure picture in a state is structurally improving or worsening. It tells you what showed up in the most recent reporting period as a fraction of total units. A state that adds a few hundred filings can move several places in the ranking. A homeowner reading the headline could conclude something dramatic happened. The reality is often more incremental.
States with a higher share of FHA-insured mortgages historically have shown different default patterns than states with a higher share of conventional, jumbo, or VA loans. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, VA-backed mortgages have generally shown lower default rates than conventional mortgages, which influences the state ranking when veteran home buyer concentration is high. Conventional mortgages backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac follow another pattern shaped by underwriting standards in effect when each loan was originated.
Some borrowers ask about this when they are comparing programs. Loan officers see the same question from different angles. Someone with a 505 credit score and no equity is in a very different situation than someone with a 760 score and 35% equity, and the right product is different. The state-level statistics are the aggregation of all of those individual files, not a description of any one of them.
The list of top-foreclosure-rate states moves from quarter to quarter, but the same names tend to appear in the top tier. The state-by-state notes below summarize patterns from the most recent ATTOM U.S. Foreclosure Market Report and the most recent MBA National Delinquency Survey, supplemented with state-level context. Specific filing counts and rates are tracked monthly by ATTOM and quarterly by MBA.
South Carolina, Illinois, and Delaware have rotated through the top of ATTOM's monthly foreclosure-rate ranking across multiple recent reporting periods. Across the most recent quarterly and monthly ATTOM market reports, these three states have consistently appeared in the top five, often within a few hundredths of a percentage point of each other on the per-housing-unit measure.
What this means for a homeowner in one of these states is that the foreclosure timeline is generally longer, and there are more procedural off-ramps along the way. Court hearings, mediation programs, and required notices each create a window. Several of these states have state-level foreclosure mediation programs, and the CFPB lists state-specific mortgage assistance contacts on its housing counselor lookup tool.
The state-level pattern in Delaware is particularly tied to the small total housing stock. A state with under 500,000 housing units does not need many filings to land at the top of the per-unit ranking. The picture for an individual Delaware homeowner is not necessarily worse than the picture for a homeowner in a much larger state with a higher absolute filing volume. South Carolina's pattern is different. Sustained homeowner growth and migration-driven inventory churn have pushed both filings and the per-unit rate higher across multiple quarters. Illinois reflects a long-running judicial backlog concentrated in the Chicago metro area. HUD-approved housing counselors are available at no cost in each of these states for homeowners weighing refinance or loss-mitigation options.
Florida, Nevada, and Indiana have all appeared in the top five of ATTOM's most recent monthly and quarterly foreclosure-rate reports. Florida and Nevada show a Sun Belt pattern. Both states have large populations of homeowners who refinanced or originated during peak-price years, and both saw foreclosure rates climb in recent reporting periods as the market continued to normalize from pandemic-era lows. Florida uses a judicial foreclosure process; Nevada uses a non-judicial process.
Indiana's pattern is different. The state has shown rising foreclosure activity concentrated in specific metros and counties tied to the industrial belt, with rates climbing fast enough to push Indiana into the top three by some recent monthly snapshots. State-level Mortgage Bankers Association National Delinquency Survey data tracks the underlying delinquency picture quarterly, and Indiana's seriously delinquent percentage has trended above the national average across several recent quarters.
If you are a homeowner in one of these states and you are watching local prices drop or your area lose jobs, it is worth running the numbers on where you stand. The process for a homeowner in this position usually starts by looking at current loan-to-value, the rate on the existing mortgage, and whether a rate-and-term refinance is even possible at today's market rates. None of those answers come from the state ranking. They come from the file. AmeriSave can run the numbers on a homeowner's specific situation and identify whether refinance economics work or whether servicer contact about a modification is the better path.
New Jersey, Maryland, Ohio, and Louisiana have all spent time in the top fifteen states for foreclosure rate across recent ATTOM monthly reports. Each tells a different story. New Jersey reflects long-running judicial backlog and is one of the states with the longest foreclosure timelines nationally. Maryland's pattern reflects judicial-process backlog in the Baltimore region. Ohio's rate reflects a long tail of post-recession delinquencies still working through the system in specific counties. Louisiana's pattern reflects a combination of weather-related inventory disruption and oil-and-gas economic exposure in southern parishes; Louisiana also runs the longest average foreclosure timeline in the country.
These state-level observations are aggregated patterns. Your ZIP code can be very different from your state average. The CFPB's foreclosure resources page directs homeowners to county-level housing counselors who know the local pattern, and HUD's housing counselor lookup tool covers every state and territory. AmeriSave loan officers also work with homeowners in these long-timeline states and can help borrowers understand which loss-mitigation framework applies to their specific loan type while they wait for servicer-side decisions.
The states at the bottom of the foreclosure-rate ranking are typically smaller-population states in the Mountain West, Northern Plains, or Northeast.
South Dakota and North Dakota have repeatedly ranked among the lowest-foreclosure-rate states in ATTOM's monthly reports. Both have small total housing stocks, stable employment in agriculture and energy, and homeowner populations that skew toward longer-tenured loans. Vermont has shown a similar pattern, with the added factor of judicial-process backlog being managed efficiently relative to other judicial states.
A homeowner in one of these states asking whether foreclosure risk is something to plan for at all should still answer yes. State-level rates are aggregations. Individual files are individual. The view from the borrower seat is that the homeowner who calls before missing a payment has more options than the one who calls after the third missed payment, regardless of what state shows up where in the rankings.
Montana, Wyoming, and Alaska tend to occupy bottom-tier slots in foreclosure-rate rankings as well. Lower population density, smaller housing stocks, and historically conservative origination patterns contribute. According to the Mortgage Bankers Association's most recent National Delinquency Survey, these states show below-national-average serious delinquency percentages across loan types.
Resource access can be tighter in these states because of geographic distance from servicer offices and counselor locations. HUD's online counselor lookup helps offset that by directing homeowners to state-level counselor offices that can work by phone or video. AmeriSave loan officers also work with borrowers in these states and can explain the loss-mitigation framework that applies to the borrower's specific loan type without the homeowner needing to drive hours to an in-person meeting.
West Virginia and Idaho both maintain low foreclosure rates relative to the national average. West Virginia's profile reflects an older homeowner population with lower mortgage utilization overall. Many homeowners in the state own free and clear, which removes them from foreclosure exposure entirely. Idaho's profile reflects rapid in-migration during recent years that brought in higher-equity buyers. Both patterns are documented in the U.S. Census Bureau's most recent American Community Survey homeownership data.
Hawaii usually appears in the lower half of the foreclosure-rate ranking despite being a high-cost state. Long average loan tenure, a restrictive judicial foreclosure process, and a homeowner population with substantial accumulated equity all contribute. Hawaiian homeowners who do face foreclosure typically have longer cure-period windows than homeowners in non-judicial-process states on the mainland.
The flip side is that when a foreclosure case does enter the system in Hawaii, the resolution timeline is among the longest in the country. ATTOM's most recent quarterly market report shows Hawaii running average foreclosure completion times measured in years rather than months. The judicial-process protections that make filings less common also make individual cases drawn-out. For homeowners working through a hardship in Hawaii, that extra time is useful only if it gets used. Calling the servicer early, applying for loss mitigation in writing, and keeping documentation organized all matter more in a long-timeline state than in a fast-process state.
California, Texas, and Florida are the three largest states by housing units and by total mortgage volume, and they each illustrate why the per-unit ranking does not always describe the underlying experience for homeowners.
California typically lands in the middle of the foreclosure-rate ranking, sometimes lower. The state uses a non-judicial foreclosure process, which moves cases through quickly and keeps the inventory metric low. Its absolute filing volume is among the highest in the country because of population, but the per-unit rate stays moderate. California homeowners who fall behind have a relatively short cure-period window before a non-judicial sale. Engaging a servicer or a HUD-approved counselor early matters more in this kind of state than in a state with a longer judicial timeline.
Texas runs similarly to California in process, with a non-judicial foreclosure framework that resolves cases quickly. Texas typically posts middle-tier or lower-tier foreclosure rates despite its large absolute population. The state's homeownership rate tracks roughly with the national average per the U.S. Census Bureau's homeownership data, and its non-judicial framework keeps inventory moving. Texas borrowers, like Nevada and California borrowers, have less time on the calendar than borrowers in judicial states, which is one reason early servicer engagement matters.
Florida is the largest state with a judicial foreclosure process, and its size combined with the judicial framework means it has a substantial inventory of cases moving through the courts at any given time. Florida frequently ranks in the top half of foreclosure-rate rankings, though not always in the top tier, because its enormous housing stock dilutes the per-unit rate even when filing volume is high.
The takeaway from these three states is that ranking position alone is not a clean read on borrower risk. A high-population state can have many homeowners experiencing the same level of distress as a low-population state with a higher per-unit rate. The state ranking compresses that into one number. Your file does not.
Beyond the state-by-state ranking, the national picture is worth understanding. According to the Federal Reserve's most recent Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit, mortgage delinquency at the early stage of 30 to 60 days past due has risen modestly from post-pandemic lows but remains well below the levels seen during the late-2000s housing downturn. Serious delinquency, defined as 90 or more days past due, has stayed at historically low levels relative to the long-term trend.
The Mortgage Bankers Association's most recent National Delinquency Survey aligns with the Federal Reserve's broader picture. Total delinquency rates remain below the long-run average, and foreclosure inventory as a percentage of all serviced loans is also below the long-run average. The ATTOM U.S. Foreclosure Market Report provides the monthly filing-rate snapshot that complements the MBA's quarterly delinquency-percentage data.
What this means for the average homeowner is that the system is working closer to its long-term equilibrium than it was during the pandemic-era moratorium periods, when foreclosure activity was artificially suppressed and then released as moratoria expired. Current rates reflect normal market conditions plus the residual effects of those moratoria working through the system. The pattern across most states is gradual normalization, not crisis-level acceleration.
Foreclosure is not one event. It is a sequence of events, and the homeowner has rights and options at multiple points along the sequence. The CFPB publishes a homeowner-facing guide that walks through every stage. The broad outline is consistent across states even though the specific deadlines and procedures vary.
The first missed payment triggers a late fee and reporting to the servicer's collections process. Federal regulation requires the servicer to attempt early outreach. The CFPB's mortgage servicing rules under Regulation X require live contact within 36 days of delinquency and a written notice with loss-mitigation options within 45 days. Servicers must provide information about available options before initiating any foreclosure action.
If you miss a payment and have not already heard from your servicer, that does not mean the rules are not being followed. It usually means the outreach is in progress. The right move is to call the servicer first, before assuming any specific outcome. AmeriSave is not the servicer for most of its originated loans, but borrowers who are unsure who their current servicer is can find the contact information on their most recent monthly mortgage statement.
If payments remain unpaid past the cure period in the loan documents, which is typically around 90 days, the servicer issues a notice of default, sometimes called a notice of intent to foreclose. The notice triggers acceleration, meaning the entire unpaid balance becomes due rather than just the missed payments.
This is the stage where the path forks based on whether the state is judicial or non-judicial. In judicial states, the servicer files a foreclosure complaint in the appropriate court. In non-judicial states, the servicer records a notice of default in county records and starts the statutory clock. Either way, the homeowner still has loss-mitigation options at this stage, and the calendar has not yet reached the point of irreversible loss.
Federal rules require servicers to evaluate complete loss-mitigation applications submitted at least 37 days before a scheduled foreclosure sale. The available options include repayment plans, where missed payments are caught up over a defined period; forbearance, where the payment is temporarily reduced or paused; loan modification, where the rate, term, or principal balance changes to make payments affordable; partial claim, an FHA-specific option where HUD pays the arrearage as a subordinate lien; short sale, where the home is sold for less than the balance owed; and deed in lieu, where the property is transferred back in exchange for release from the debt.
Which option fits depends on the borrower's situation. A homeowner with stable income who hit a temporary disruption is a strong candidate for a repayment plan. A homeowner with reduced but stable income may be a modification candidate. A homeowner whose income has dropped permanently and whose home is worth less than the balance is a short-sale or deed-in-lieu candidate. AmeriSave loan officers see the patterns and can help borrowers understand what their servicer is likely to consider before the homeowner makes the call.
If loss mitigation does not resolve the default, the property proceeds to foreclosure sale. In non-judicial states, this is typically an auction at the courthouse or trustee's office. In judicial states, it follows the court's final judgment of foreclosure.
After the sale, the homeowner has rights that vary by state. Some states allow a redemption period during which the former homeowner can reclaim the property by paying the full sale amount plus costs. Some states have anti-deficiency statutes that prevent the lender from pursuing the borrower for any remaining balance after the sale. Others allow deficiency judgments. The CFPB and state attorneys general publish state-specific summaries that homeowners can consult before the sale date to understand what comes after.
If you are a homeowner who is current on payments today but worried about what tomorrow looks like, this is the section that matters most.
HUD-approved housing counselors provide free counseling on foreclosure prevention, loss-mitigation options, and budgeting. The counselor service is funded through HUD grants and is available to homeowners regardless of income. The CFPB and HUD both maintain online lookup tools for finding a counselor near you.
The advantage of working with a HUD-approved counselor before the foreclosure process begins is that the counselor can review every option, not only the ones your servicer has presented. Counselors are also familiar with state-specific programs that may not appear in standard servicer outreach. A good counselor will sit down with you, ask the questions that need to be asked, look at every document you have, and walk you through what is realistic.
Each major loan program has its own loss-mitigation framework.
For FHA-insured mortgages, HUD's loss-mitigation toolkit includes the repayment plan, the Special Forbearance, the Standalone Partial Claim where HUD advances the arrearage as a subordinate lien with no interest and no payments until the first mortgage is paid off, the Standalone Loan Modification, the Combination Loan Modification and Partial Claim, and the Payment Supplement. There are also disposition options including the pre-foreclosure short sale and deed-in-lieu of foreclosure. HUD has streamlined the documentation requirements, and the full menu is documented in HUD's Single Family Housing Policy Handbook 4000.1.
For VA-guaranteed mortgages, the Department of Veterans Affairs offers repayment plans, special forbearance, loan modification, deed-in-lieu of foreclosure, short sale, and additional time to arrange a private sale. VA loan technicians are assigned automatically to assist veteran borrowers who fall 61 days past due, and any veteran homeowner can call a VA loan technician directly for guidance regardless of how far along the timeline they are.
For USDA Rural Development mortgages, USDA offers special relief moratoriums for borrowers facing temporary hardship, plus loan modification options designed for rural borrowers. The USDA Rural Development office in each state handles individual cases.
For conventional loans backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, the Flex Modification program is the standard loss-mitigation tool. Flex Modification can adjust the rate, extend the term, and in some cases include principal forbearance to bring payments to a sustainable level.
Many states maintain their own foreclosure prevention programs, often funded through the U.S. Treasury's Homeowner Assistance Fund or through state housing finance agencies. The CFPB's state housing counselor lookup tool surfaces state-specific programs by ZIP code.
The Homeowner Assistance Fund operates through state-level agencies, and the qualifying criteria, application process, and benefit amounts vary by state. Some states cap assistance at a fixed dollar amount per household. Others structure it as a forgivable loan tied to continued occupancy. The variability is one reason a HUD-approved counselor with knowledge of the specific state programs can be more efficient than navigating the federal-level resources alone.
If you are still current on your mortgage and you have equity, refinancing may be an option. A rate-and-term refinance can lower the monthly payment by reducing the rate or extending the term. A cash-out refinance can pull equity to pay off other debt that is creating the cash-flow problem.
Refinancing is not a foreclosure-rescue tool once a notice of default has been recorded. Once you are in foreclosure, the lender is unlikely to approve a new loan against the property, and your credit will reflect the missed payments, which limits qualifying options. The right time to consider a refinance is when you can still see the cliff edge, not after.
The process for a homeowner in the pre-default window typically starts the same way every borrower conversation starts. How much do you think your home is worth today. How much do you owe. What is your current credit range. What is your income situation. The product comes out of those answers. Sometimes the right answer is a rate-and-term refinance. Sometimes it is a cash-out refinance to consolidate debt. Sometimes it is contacting your servicer about a modification because refinancing the existing balance would not improve payment affordability enough. Sometimes it is selling the home in a stable market and resetting. The borrower's situation drives the answer, not the other way around. AmeriSave loan officers run these conversations every day and can walk a homeowner through the math on their specific file before any decision is made.
Beyond the formal programs, the simplest tool homeowners underuse is direct, documented servicer communication. Federal law requires servicers to evaluate complete loss-mitigation applications, but the application has to be complete and submitted on time. That means returning every document the servicer requests, keeping copies of every email and letter, and following up if the servicer stops responding.
A homeowner working through the loss-mitigation process should keep a single folder, paper or digital, with every piece of correspondence. If the servicer asks for a hardship letter, send it the day it is requested. If the servicer asks for tax returns, get them in before the deadline. The homeowners who close out a successful modification or repayment plan are usually the ones who treated the documentation as the priority and asked questions when something was unclear.
Foreclosure-rate rankings are useful for tracking the general trajectory of the market and provide tidy headlines. If you interpret them as a personal indicator, they can also be easily misinterpreted.
The state rating does not put a present homeowner with equity and a steady income in a state with a high foreclosure rate at greater personal danger. The state rating does not reduce personal risk for a homeowner who is two months behind in a state with a low foreclosure rate. You own your file. It's not your neighbor's. The climate is the total rate. The forecast is your circumstances.
When interpreting the data, there are three general guidelines. First, make a distinction between the inventory rate and the filing rate. New and ongoing filings are measured by ATTOM's monthly filing rate. The percentage of all serviced loans that are currently in foreclosure is determined by MBA's quarterly inventory rate. They provide distinct answers, and a state may score differently on each. Second, pay attention to the trend rather than the snapshot. A state that has been at the top for ten years is presenting a different tale than one that went from the center of the list to the top tier over the course of four quarters. Layer the data in the third step.
The local market's stability, recovery, or decline cannot be determined only by the foreclosure rate. Combine the foreclosure rate with employment information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, homeownership rates from the Census Bureau, and movements in home prices from the FHFA House Price Index. A single number is not as useful as the complete image.
If you are reading a state-by-state foreclosure rate post, you are most likely doing one of three things: keeping an eye on the overall market due to a professional or investment interest, worrying about a particular circumstance in your own home, or conducting pre-purchase research before making a purchase.
The rankings work best as a directional indicator over several reporting periods for the first group. The three sources to consult are the Federal Reserve Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit, the MBA National Delinquency Survey, and the ATTOM monthly report. By themselves, none of them can tell the entire tale. They triangulate together.
Your personal number is the most significant for the second group. What is your current income situation, how much equity you have, and how many payments you are behind? HUD-approved housing counselors are free, and federal regulations mandate that your servicer assess you for loss-mitigation options prior to a foreclosure referral. The most productive call is the one that is made first. Asking inquiries upfront, ensuring that all documents are delivered to the appropriate person, and ensuring that nothing is waiting for an unfulfilled follow-up are all part of the play.
For the third category, foreclosure rates are important when purchasing a property, but they are not as important as your individual underwriting picture, rate, term, and down payment. From the perspective of a loan officer, AmeriSave believes that a buyer with a stable file in a high-foreclosure-rate state is in a very different position than a buyer with a stretched file in a low-foreclosure-rate state. One of the many inputs is the state ranking. The file is your circumstances.
Each borrower's circumstances are unique. You get perspective from state foreclosure rates. They don't provide you with the solution for your loan, your house, or your figures. In this case, the discussion begins with questions rather than the rating.
In recent reporting periods, South Carolina, Illinois, Delaware, Florida, and Nevada have alternated at the top of ATTOM's monthly and quarterly foreclosure-rate rankings; in some recent months, Indiana has also risen to the top. Depending on the filing volume in relation to the housing supply, the precise ordering changes every month.
Delaware is particularly vulnerable to variations in filing rates due to its modest total housing inventory. Even in cases where the underlying delinquent picture is steady, a relatively small number of new filings can raise the rate. In addition to having greater housing stocks, South Carolina, Illinois, and Florida regularly place in the top 10 in terms of absolute filing volume. For debtors in each of these states, the CFPB and state housing finance agencies provide contact details for homeowner assistance. AmeriSave can assist you in determining whether refinancing is an option in your case and outlining the following steps if you are a homeowner in one of the top-tier states and are worried about your particular circumstances.
In ATTOM's monthly and quarterly foreclosure-rate reports, South Dakota and Vermont have consistently placed at or near the bottom, along with West Virginia, Mississippi, Montana, and North Dakota.
Small total housing stocks, steady employment in energy and agriculture, a homeowner population with longer-term loans, and historically conservative origination trends are some of the traits that these states have in common. Several of these states have greater rates of free-and-clear ownership, which completely shields those homeowners from foreclosure risk, according to the Census Bureau's American Community Survey homeownership data. Compared to top-tier ranks, which might change more significantly depending on a small number of submissions, bottom-tier rankings are typically more consistent over reporting periods.
According to ATTOM Data Solutions, a foreclosure rate is defined as one foreclosure filing for every X dwelling units in a state throughout the course of a reporting period. Bank repossessions, planned auctions, and default notices are all included in a foreclosure filing. Foreclosure activity per dwelling unit is higher when X is lower.
The percentage of all serviced loans in foreclosure inventory, which the Mortgage Bankers Association monitors in its quarterly National Delinquency Survey, is not the same as that statistic. Activity entering the system is captured by ATTOM's filing-rate metric. The stock of cases that are presently being processed by the system is captured by MBA's inventory measure. Depending on how quickly its courts and service providers handle cases, a state may score high on one and middle on the other. Both are beneficial. Neither narrates the entire tale on its own.
States with judicial and non-judicial processes have substantially different foreclosure timescales, as do state-specific procedural regulations within each category. According to ATTOM, the most recent quarterly average completion time was about 600 days, indicating a trend toward a shorter national average.
The longest are judicial jurisdictions, in which the lender is required to file a lawsuit. According to the most current ATTOM market study, the states with the longest average completion delays are Louisiana, Nevada, Rhode Island, New York, and Hawaii. The length of time it takes to complete a foreclosure sale in Louisiana is measured in thousands of days.
States without courts are typically quicker. According to the same survey, the states with the shortest average completion times—typically between 130 and 180 days—are West Virginia, Texas, Virginia, Wyoming, and Montana. State-specific procedural summaries are among the CFPB's services for homeowners facing foreclosure. With very few exceptions, federal regulations mandate that your servicer assess you for loss-mitigation options before to complete a foreclosure referral, regardless of the duration of the deadline. The calendar is only one aspect of the window. It is the particular steps involved in the process.
If you have enough equity and your mortgage is still current, refinancing can be a pre-default strategy. Since lenders typically won't authorize a new loan on a home that is in active foreclosure proceedings, refinancing becomes extremely challenging once a notice of default has been recorded.
The time frame during which you are still current but can anticipate a payment issue is known as the realistic refinance window. By lowering the rate or lengthening the term, a rate-and-term refinance can lower the monthly payment. The cash-flow issue can be resolved by using equity from a cash-out refinance to settle other debt.
Imagine a homeowner who has 40,000 dollars in credit card debt at average rates higher than 20%, a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage at 7.25%, 200,000 dollars in remaining principal, and 100,000 dollars in accessible equity. The total monthly debt service could be significantly decreased by consolidating the credit card amount through a cash-out refinance. AmeriSave is able to analyze those figures and determine whether the refinance economics are appropriate for your particular file.
Programs for federal loss mitigation differ depending on the type of loan. The repayment plan, special forbearance, standalone partial claim, solo loan modification, combination loan modification and partial claim, and payment supplement option are among the FHA-specific programs administered by HUD. For veteran borrowers, the Department of Veterans Affairs provides repayment plans, special forbearance, loan modification, short sale, and deed-in-lieu alternatives. VA loan technicians are assigned to homeowners who are 61 days past due. For rural debtors, USDA Rural Development manages special relief moratoriums and modification alternatives.
The Flex Modification program is the typical mechanism for traditional loans guaranteed by Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae. Additional assistance is provided by the U.S. Treasury's Homeowner Assistance Fund, which is managed by state housing finance organizations and is financed by state-specific initiatives. Homeowners can learn which federal, GSE, and state programs they are eligible for based on the particular loan type and current delinquency status on their file with the assistance of free HUD-approved housing counselors.
First, give your servicer a call. Before beginning any foreclosure action, your servicer must assess you for loss-mitigation options in accordance with federal regulations under the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's Regulation X. However, this evaluation is only possible if you submit a comprehensive application.
The strategy is to make a call before, not after, you miss the payment. Compared to a servicer dealing with a customer who is already 60 days past due, a servicer dealing with a homeowner who has not yet missed a payment has more options. The homeowner's negotiation position is greatest at the earliest stage, when repayment plans, forbearance, and adjustments become accessible.
Keep a record of everything. Maintain copies of all correspondence, emails, and payment records. Federal regulations mandate that comprehensive loss-mitigation petitions be submitted at least 37 days before to any planned foreclosure sale in order to activate full review safeguards, so please submit any needed documentation as soon as possible. HUD-approved housing counselors can assist you with the process concurrently with your servicer talk and are available at no cost.
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