North Carolina is home to the Center for Responsible Lending, a nonpartisan watchdog group. According to their observations the numbers of foreclosures will not be dwindling soon. They are not the only ones. A foreclosure task force appointed by the Florida Supreme Court agrees and have pointed out that people are having a more difficult time maintaining any payment due to lost jobs, reduced work hours, and lack of employment possibilities. In the top ten hardest hit states effected by foreclosure are Florida and California, but all states have been effect and are showing the wear that the lack of employment has brought.

Nearly half of the recent sales of foreclosed homes have been short sales, great for the homeowners facing foreclosure to save the families from the further devastation of extremely poor credit reports, but not so great for the banking or real estate market. The earliest predictions for any change in this foreclosure crisis are 2020 and in the states hit the hardest, not until 2030.

Department of the Treasury’s Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions Michael Barr stated in his written testimony on stabilizing the housing market before the House Financial Services Committee, Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity “The rapid decline in home prices over the past two years has had devastating consequences for homeowners, communities and financial institutions throughout the country. Moreover, rising unemployment and other recessionary pressures have impaired the ability of many otherwise responsible families to stay current on their mortgage payments. The result is that responsible homeowners across America are grappling with the possibility of foreclosure and displacement. Analysts project that more than 6 million families could face foreclosure over the next three years.”

Jay Brinkmann, chief economist with the Mortgage Bankers Association, stated in his August 20th, 2009 press release titled “Delinquencies Continue to Climb, Foreclosures Flat in Latest MBA National Delinquency Survey” that “The delinquency rate for mortgage loans on one-to-four-unit residential properties rose to a seasonally adjusted rate of 9.24 percent of all loans outstanding as of the end of the second quarter of 2009, up 12 basis points from the first quarter of 2009, and up 283 basis points from one year ago” and “the non-seasonally adjusted delinquency rate increased 64 basis points from 8.22 percent in the first quarter of 2009 to 8.86 percent this quarter.”

Brinkmann has gone on to state “As for the outlook, it is unlikely we will see meaningful reductions in the foreclosure and delinquency rates until the employment situation improves. In addition, in some areas where a number of borrowers have mortgages that are larger than the current value of their homes, any life events such a divorce or loss of a job are likely to translate into foreclosures until prices in those areas recover, not just flatten.” Recent statistics from the US Labor Department reported that the unemployment rate rose to a 26-year high of 9.8 percent in September.

The numbers are scary but the reality of it all is even scarier. If you are struggling with foreclosure or are about on the verge of foreclosure, let us help you stop it dead on, before you too become part of the statistics.