State Data Shows Progress in Preventing Foreclosures

The California Department of Corporations says residential servicers modified 136,785 mortgages last year, which means the state met its goal of preventing 100,000 foreclosures in 2008.In early 2008 Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger unveiled the "Subprime Mortgage Agreement" where major lenders agreed to freeze interest rates for families at risk of losing their homes to foreclosure. "There have been other resolutions to mortgage issues, but the modification of terms that results in affordable, sustainable payments is the outcome most likely to prevent foreclosure and preserve home ownership for tens of thousands of families in California," said corporations commissioner Preston DuFauchard. Many of the largest state-licensed mortgage lenders and servicers, including the ten who signed onto the Governor's Agreement, now participate in the survey representing more than half of the home mortgage market in California.