Job Loss vs Foreclosure

In addition to defaults due to bad mortgages these days banks are seeing more foreclosure filings due to job losses. For years, bad loans and their aftershocks have been sending homeowners into foreclosure. Now it's lost jobs that are putting troubled borrowers over the edge. As the economy tanks, unemployment is the major factor driving a much larger proportion of foreclosures now than in the earlier stages of the mortgage meltdown. In June, 45.5% of all delinquencies reported by Freddie Mac were due to unemployment or the loss of income, according to the company. That's an increase from 36.3% in 2006.And that's a situation that more and more people are finding themselves in. Nearly one million Americans have lost their jobs in 2008. 159,000 private sector jobs were lost in September. The rise in job losses will increase and extend the delinquency trend. Of course the housing crisis is driving unemployment, which in turn has exacerbated the housing crisis - particularly in bubble states like Florida, Nevada and Arizona. Like Florida, California has seen its economy devastated by the housing meltdown. Foreclosure prevention counselors now have far more clients seeking help because their jobs disappeared, rather than because their adjustable-rate mortgages are resetting.

As our economy continues to tank we are going to see more and more foreclosure fillings. I can guarantee that none of those people would like to loose their homes, but if you have a job that doesn’t pay enough you have no other choice. People have countless bills and the money that they make is not even enough to cover those much less to cover their mortgage, the only option they have is to stop paying for their mortgage. I heard rumors about the companies that negotiate with lenders to modify the existing mortgages to new terms, I could bet that every single homeowner facing financial hardship would be more than willing to accept the modified deal where it would become affordable for hima to have a mortgage in today’s economy. Let’s hope that we see more of these deals for the people that really need it.