Foreclosure tally found new low in October

The number of foreclosure cases filed against Hawaii property owners dipped to a recent low in October, extending what has generally been a declining trend in volume since April.

The state Judiciary reported that there were 195 new cases initiated statewide in October. That number was down from a range between 207 and 233 from June to September and a range between 346 and 450 from January to May.

Observers including local foreclosure attorneys have said the trend reflects an economy that is strengthening consumer finances and real estate values in concert with efforts by lenders to modify more troubled home loans.

The improvement in foreclosure levels locally has lagged rebounds in some other states along with other aspects of Hawaii’s economy that include bankruptcies and unemployment in part because of changes made to Hawaii foreclosure law in each of the past two years.

Overhauling the law was deemed necessary to protect consumers from lenders rushing foreclosures through an out-of-court, or nonjudicial, process with little oversight.

However, the changes had side effects that prolonged foreclosure in many cases.

One major new provision tried to let homeowners receive help from mediators, but lenders avoided that by filing all new cases in court, where foreclosure takes longer and costs more but doesn’t require mediation.

Another part of the law forced lenders in many cases to stop foreclosure and then restart the process.

Last year a key change to the law required that attorneys attest to the accuracy of all documents filed by lenders in court, which caused another temporary slowdown as lenders and attorneys adopted new procedures.

That slowdown lasted only a few months last year, and then increasing volumes of new cases reached 341 in December 2012 and then topped out at 450 in March before the more recent decline set in.