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Consumer Blog

A Foreclosure Crisis?

Posted by Sami Thalji | Sep 15, 2021

According to statistics from Black Knight, a mortgage data firm, government statistics, active mortgage forbearance plans fell by more than 5% last week. The drop was mostly due to the expiration of August forbearance plans. Since many plans gave up to 18 months of forbearance and the highest enrollment was in March and April 2020 we should expect to see more than 400,000 expired forbearance plans in September. There are still 1.618 million borrowers in forbearance programs or 3.1% of all outstanding mortgages. But the report states that 98% of those troubled borrowers now have at least 10% equity in their homes, not counting their missed payments. Including those payments, 93% still have more than 10% equity. The authors of the story cited in this post believe that give borrowers a strong position to cash out on their homes to avoid foreclosure, but it is clear that the authors have no practical experience in real estate. 10% of equity means very little in the way of profit once closing costs are factored in. Homeowners with 10% equity selling a $340,000 home could walk away with as little as $3,000 - $7,000. Once you factor in the cost of moving and first and last month's rent and security deposits there could be no money left for many homeowners. Should prices start to fall as expected at some point in 2022 you could see a large number of homeowners have that small amount of equity wiped out and even push many into a negative equity position. At that point, banks will be less willing to help. The moral of the story is don't listen to financial reports, media reports, or financial advisors who only see the market from the banks' perspective and have no practical understanding of how the market works at the homeowner's level. You need to speak with one of our lawyers to truly understand what your options are. 

About the Author

Sami Thalji

Sami Thalji is a native Floridian, born in Clearwater and raised in St. Petersburg, Florida. Sami graduated from Osceola High School in Seminole, Florida before attending and receiving both his Bachelor of Science and Juris Doctor from the University of Florida in Ga...

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