A prediction that lenders might stop filing new foreclosure cases due to the latest change in Hawaii foreclosure law didn’t come true, but case volume remained relatively subdued in July, according to data published Wednesday by RealtyTrac.
The real estate research firm counted 214 foreclosure filings statewide last month, a 45 percent decrease from 390 a year earlier when volume had already been dramatically cut in response to an initial amendment to Hawaii foreclosure law.
Last month’s count was the second-lowest for any month since June 2008 before an explosion of foreclosures hit the state amid an unfolding economic recession.
July was the first full month of foreclosure activity under Act 182, which among other things established requirements that attorneys handling foreclosure cases for lenders affirm the accuracy of all documents. Act 182 became law June 28.
Some local attorneys said the new requirement would cause a slowdown in new cases while they figured out how to deal with the affirmation requirement. A couple of attorneys said such affirmations likely would stop new cases from being filed.
RealtyTrac said the 214 foreclosure filings in July included 158 new cases, seven auction notices and 49 lender repossessions.
In June, there were 148 foreclosure filings, of which 73 were new cases, 19 were auction notices and 56 were repossessions.
The rise in new cases in July over June suggests that case volume isn’t being constrained by Act 182.
RealtyTrac data, however, may be misleading because it doesn’t count new cases if a foreclosure was previously started out of court under a nonjudicial process that lenders abandoned after Hawaii law was overhauled in May 2011 via Act 48.
The state Judiciary counts all new foreclosure cases filed in court, but its figures for July won’t be available until later this month.
The prediction that foreclosures would stop or severely slow was made in May shortly after the Legislature passed the bill that became Act 182. More recently, the prevailing view by local foreclosure attorneys has shifted.
Honolulu foreclosure attorney Gary Okuda told a gathering organized by the collection law section of the Hawaii State Bar Association on July 17 that the new law will force lenders to better prepare cases, thus creating more efficient processing that allows for higher case volumes.
"Act 182 will speed up foreclosures," he said.
David Rosen, another local foreclosure attorney, said any reduction from added preparation should be short, and that volume will rebound to a higher rate within two or three months. Previously, Rosen thought Act 182 likely would halt cases.
In a separate report, Hawaii had the third-highest mortgage debt in the nation, with an average debt of $314,415 per borrower in the second quarter, according to TransUnion, a company that reports credit scores.
Nationally, the average debt per borrower is $188,341.
Mortgage delinquencies in the islands dropped slightly in the quarter to 4.7 percent from 4.9 percent a year earlier and was lower than the national average of 5.5 percent.
