Foreclosure mess to be straightened out in 2011? | Irvine Real Estate | Irvine Homes for Sale

The so-called foreclosure crisis which made headlines in the last half of the year may not be resolved until sometime in 2011.

According to RealtyTrac.com – the group that keeps up with such things – the number of foreclosures dropped 21 percent from October to November. The Tribune newspapers group reported the drop is the direct result of lenders examining their procedures to make sure they were following the letter of the law when taking homes back from borrowers in default.

The allegations of questionable practices have been mostly aimed at large servicers – financial institutions that enter into agreements with the original lender to collect mortgage payments due. It’s worth mentioning that a good number of mortgages are still serviced locally in Arkansas.

In other words, the bank where a borrower takes out a mortgage is the one that collects payments, too.

Still, it’s also worth mentioning that servicers at issue have taken measures to protect the rights of consumers as a response to the commotion over flawed paperwork and other issues. Those improvements were significant enough to cause Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac – the government-sponsored enterprises which underwrite the bulk of mortgages in the United States – to tell real estate agents to resume with sales of foreclosed properties at the end of November.

At least one group, however, is still investigating. A national task force made up of regulators from the Federal Trade Commission, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the U.S. Department of Justice and attorneys general from all 50 states and bank regulators started investigating foreclosure practices in October.

Their primary concern, apparently, has to do with what actions servicers took when borrowers went into default. Lenders, see, are required to give borrowers the chance to cure defaults – to work out plans through which home owners can make up their missed payments and keep their homes.

When do you think the foreclosure mess will be over? This article says sometime this year???? is it possible? What are your thoughts….