Closer look at 2015 foreclosures

Earlier this week I wrote posts comparing recording statistics from the first half of 2015 to the first half of 2014 and another comparing recordings in June 2015 to June 2014.  The number of foreclosures was up significantly in both periods which warranted a closer look.  Here's what I found when I scrutinized foreclosure deeds recorded in June 2015 which I reported had risen from 5 to 16, a jump of 220%.

The first thing I found was that there were really only 14 foreclosure deeds during this period.  One property straddled the boundary between Tewksbury and Lowell so it showed up in the index query three different times: as Lowell, Tewksbury and "multiple" towns.  Still, the 14 foreclosure deeds still constitute a 180% increase which is also a worrisome number.

On to a closer look at the individual mortgages involved in these foreclosures:

Four of the mortgages that were foreclosed were obtained at the same time the property was purchased.  One was from 2003, two from 2005, and one from 2006, with down payments of 5%, 11%, 25% and 25%).  Two other mortgages were on properties that had been received by the borrowers as gifts.  One was a $283,000 mortgage from 2004 on a property that was obtained in 1989 for $1; the other was a $287,000 mortgage from 2014 on a property that was obtained in 2009 for $1.

The eight remaining mortgages all involved refinancings in which the borrower had purchased the property earlier with another mortgage, but then obtained a new, post-purchase mortgage which is the one that was foreclosed.  The following list shows the dates and amounts of the mortgages, followed by the dates and amounts of the purchase deeds:

• ·         2003 mortgage of $215,000; 1998 deed of $158,000
• ·        2004 mortgage of $252,000; 2003 deed of $265,000
• ·        2005 mortgage of $185,000; 1999 deed of $97,000
• ·        2005 mortgage of $280,000; 2001 deed of $305,000
• ·        2005 mortgage of $222,000; 2004 deed of $278,000
• ·        2007 mortgage of $389,000; 2005 deed of $360,000
• ·        2007 mortgage of $339,000; 1996 deed of $153,500
• ·        2009 mortgage of $348,000; 2004 deed of $175,000