The number of foreclosure lawsuits filed against Hawaii homeowners plummeted in May, putting even harder brakes on what had been a gradual slowdown in new case volume since the middle of last year.
A new report from the state Judiciary said 79 foreclosure suits were filed statewide in May.
New case volume in May was less than one-fourth the 346 new cases in the same month last year, and compared with between 211 and 250 new cases per month during the first four months of this year.
It’s unclear whether the May count is an anomaly or perhaps a sign that foreclosure volume is taking a new downward turn.
"I’m not sure what might have accounted for that drop," said Marvin Dang, a local foreclosure attorney.
Dang said he agrees that Hawaii’s growing economy — where unemployment is down along with bankruptcies while personal income and real estate values are up — is helping homeowners maintain financial health and stay out of mortgage trouble.
Enhanced efforts by several national mortgage lenders to resolve mortgage delinquencies outside of foreclosure under legal settlements with the federal government also are a factor in fewer foreclosures, Dang added.
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NO PLACE TO CALL HOME
New Hawaii foreclosure cases filed in state court, including the year-over-year percentage change:
| MONTH |
TOTAL |
CHANGE |
| 2014 |
| May |
79 |
-77% |
| April |
211 |
-47% |
| March |
231 |
-49% |
| February |
250 |
-37% |
| January |
227 |
-42% |
| MONTH |
TOTAL |
CHANGE |
| 2013 |
| May |
346 |
| April |
397 |
| March |
450 |
| February |
399 |
| January |
390 |
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The Judiciary often revises initial data higher to account for a relatively slow collection of new case information typically from Kauai. For instance, the tally of new cases filed in April was elevated to 211 from 191, and the count in March rose to 231 from 225.
However, Judiciary spokeswoman Marsha Kitagawa said the usual lag time with Kauai data would not account for such a large drop in May because the volume of foreclosure cases on Kauai is not that large.
"We do not know the reason for the drop in filings," she said in an email.
The last time new foreclosure case volume was lower than 79 in one month was right after the Legislature imposed changes to state foreclosure law nearly two years ago, causing lenders to revise how they file cases.
Those changes to the law in Act 182 led the number of new cases to dive from 458 in June 2012 to 74 the next month.
A few months later, case volume rebounded and topped 400 again early last year before subsiding to around 200 per month since June 2013.
