November foreclosure filings plummet from 2010’s figure

Foreclosure filings plunged 27.4 percent in November over the previous year, as a new Hawaii law continues to make it harder for banks to foreclose on properties without going to court.

California real estate research firm RealtyTrac tallied 637 local filings last month, or 1 in every 809 households, down from 877 in November 2010.

Historically, most lenders filed nonjudicial foreclosures in Hawaii before the implementation of a state law earlier this year designed to slow the pace of mortgage foreclosures and force lenders into mediation programs with borrowers seeking to contest repossessions. Nonjudicial foreclosures were faster and cheaper than filing through the courts.

The state Judiciary counted 390 new foreclosure cases filed in court from Nov. 1 to Nov. 28, compared with 112 cases filed a year earlier. Judicial filings have grown to between 200 and 300 per month since June, up from roughly 100 in the same period last year.

"I’m not surprised (the number of foreclosures) is going down," said Honolulu attorney Nathan Natori, who handles foreclosure cases. "It’s not attractive anymore to do nonjudicial foreclosures, especially because of the uncertainty with how the new law will be interpreted."

Nationally, RealtyTrac counted 224,394 foreclosure filings — including default notices, auctions and bank repossessions — last month, a 14.5 percent drop from November 2010.

"Despite a seasonal slowdown similar to what we’ve seen in each of the past four years, November’s numbers suggest a new set of incoming foreclosure waves, many of which may roll into the market … sometime early next year," James Saccacio, co-founder of RealtyTrac, said in a statement.

Nevada recorded the nation’s highest foreclosure rate with a total of 6,512 properties being foreclosed in November, or 1 in every 175 homes, more than three times the national average. North Dakota had the lowest rate, with just 7 filings last month, or 1 in every 45,205 households.