California Foreclosures Soar 200% Compared To Last Year

The 2nd Quarter National Delinquency Survey, released today by the Mortgage Bankers
Association (MBA), shows that California mortgage loans entering foreclosure have reached 25-year highs, with subprime borrowers bearing the brunt of the storm.

The MBA linked market factors such as declining home prices and an increase in housing inventory to the grim foreclosure situation in California, but failed to acknowledge the risky products and deterioration of lending practices in their own industry. "Brokers and lenders pushed risky products that maximized their profits, but lost sight of the basic fundamentals of lending," says Paul Leonard, director of the California office of the Center for Responsible Lending. "Subprime borrowers were set up for historic levels of failure."

While foreclosures on all types of loans have increased in the Golden State, foreclosures in the subprime market are especially severe. CRL analysis of the MBA report shows that the second quarter subprime foreclosure rate is the highest-ever in 25 years, topping the most recent
record quarter, which was the first quarter of 2007. MBA's data also show that foreclosures -- both for all loans and subprime loans -- increased about 200% over last year.

Unlike other states, California has not acted to stem the foreclosures or tighten safeguards for borrowers. "It's time for California's elected leadership to act to reduce the foreclosures and the economic declines that are sure to follow," Leonard says. In response to the record level of
foreclosures facing California homeowners, it is imperative that California works immediately to provide assistance to borrowers in crisis and enact legislation or regulation that will protect consumers in the future.

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