For the forth consecutive month, court foreclosure filings decreased in 20 Oregon counties. The trend was a reflection of activity in 2013, but a swell in foreclosures might be ahead for this year.
The Oregon Legislature passed changes to judicial foreclosures in August. That slowed down the process for lenders. Eugene based Gorilla Capitol purchases distressed real estate and tracks Oregon's home foreclosure market. CEO John Helmick says the changes include sending out "pre-foreclosure" notices to homeowners.
Helmick: "And now a lot of the people who received notices, didn't respond to them, frankly a lot of the homes are abandoned and vacant. But we had to go over this notice process before the foreclosure process could even begin. And that process has been happening over the last five months."
Helmick says because of the new requirements, lenders are now pursuing Non-Judicial foreclosures. That means a third-party trustee works with the borrower and lender to sell the home. Helmick expects a spike in these filings this year.
copyright, 2013 KLCC