Completed foreclosures in California dropped 31.5 percent from December to January, according to a report Wednesday in the San Francisco Business Times.
14,351 foreclosures were completed in January, compared with 20,952 in December. The state still had more foreclosures than any other state, however.
California also ranks second in pre-foreclosure filings, which dropped to 33,008 in January from 41,710 in December.
Industry leaders (largely the mortgage companies) attribute this drop to voluntary modifications and a sign that maybe the economy is turning around. I think that’s wishful thinking and the drop has more to do with the voluntary moratoriums on foreclosures from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and now JPMorgan and Citigroup.
We still need the “Helping Families Save Their Homes in Bankruptcy Act of 2009.”