Jul 16
A recent report from National Public Radio notes that mortgage foreclosures are likely to reach the one million mark in 2010. To put this figure in context, consider these statistics, pulled from the real estate tracking site RealtyTrac.com:
- In a typical year, the United States sees about 100,000 homes enter foreclosure—a mere tenth of the number expected this year.
- In 2009, considered a big year for foreclosures, 900,000 homes were foreclosed on by banks.
- In the first five months of 2010 alone, 528,000 homes have entered foreclosure—already more than five times the yearly average.
- A whopping 1.7 million U.S. homeowners got some kind of foreclosure-related notice between January and June of this year (some of those houses have already gone into foreclosure). This translates to one in 78 homes in the country.
Understanding the Foreclosure Process
So what causes a bank to foreclose on a home? It can take as long as 15 months for a bank to repossess a home once a borrower is 30 days overdue on payments, according to sources. Here’s an idea of what might happen:
- Missed payments
: If a mortgage payment is thirty days or more late, the homeowner is said to be delinquent on payments. At th
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