The statewide hotline on Tuesday, which was launched in October 2006, broke the 100,000 barrier on Tuesday. It has been averaging 180 calls per day. Hotline staff members have seen call volume rise exponentially. It really took off in late 2007.

“Our calls have increased by more than 60 percent in the past two years,” said program manager Stephanie Riggi. “And with new programs in place that promote the hotline, like last year’s house bill 1276, we continue to see high call volume each month.”

The hotline receives between 3,500 and 4,000 calls each month, a pattern that began and held in August 2008 after the implementation of HB 1276, the foreclosure deferment bill. Homeowners who may be eligible for the program are notified via posting on their property. The posting directs homeowners to the Hotline in both English and Spanish.

Riggi and hotline staff use call volume numbers to measure public awareness of the Hotline.

“One hundred thousands calls doesn’t mean 100,000 people have utilized our services,” she explained. “About 20 percent of people who call the hotline come in for a counseling session. But it does mean that we’re continuing to reach a larger population.”

Despite continual rises in call volume, the Hotline and its 26 non-profit HUD-approved partner agencies have handled the increase. Of those callers who choose to meet face-to-face with a Hotline counselor and complete the counseling process, 80 percent reach a positive resolution. Positive resolutions include but are not limited to loan modifications, refinancing, and selling the property.

“Homeowners should not be ashamed to reach out for help,” Riggi said. “Our services are free and confidential. Concerned homeowners are calling us, they’re meeting with housing counselors, and they’re finding those options that work best for them.”

To schedule an appointment with a housing counselor, call 1-877-601-HOPE (4673). For more information, visit this link.

Contact John Rebchook at JRCHOOK@gmail.com or 303-945-6865.

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The good news is that completed foreclosure sales in Colorado during 2009 fell 4 percent from 2008’s totals, and have fallen 18 percent since 2007, shows a state report released today. However, foreclosure filings were up 18 percent in 2009 from 2008, rising to a record 46,394.

According to the  report released  by the Department of Local Affairs’ Division of Housing, there were 20,437 completed foreclosures in the state during 2009, falling from 2008’s total of 21,306. In 2007, completed foreclosures reached 25,056.

While completed foreclosures fell, new foreclosure filings, which begin the foreclosure process for borrowers, rose from 39,333 in 2008.

Foreclosure alternatives rising

However, since 2007, in spite of increasing totals in new foreclosure filings, the total proportion of filings that ended in a solution other than foreclosure increased by 51 percent. In 2007, 37 percent of foreclosure filings ended in a result other than foreclosure such as short sale, loan modification, refinance or other solution. By 2009, this total had increased to 56 percent. The result has been fewer completed foreclosures even as new foreclosure filings have increased.

The falling totals in completed foreclosures were driven by significant declines in foreclosure activity in the Denver metro area. In Denver County, foreclosures fell 28 percent, and they fell 20 percent and 16 percent in Adams and Arapahoe Counties respectively. The only county in the Denver area to report increases in completed foreclosures during 2009 was Boulder County where they increased 6 percent.

“We’re cautiously optimistic that we won’t be seeing the sorts of increases in foreclosures that we saw during 2006 and 2007,” said Pat Coyle, a spokesperson with the Colorado Division of Housing. “Colorado’s Foreclosure Hotline and its network of housing counseling agencies have helped over 16,000 households avoid foreclosure since 2006, and we see that reflected in these numbers.”

As completed foreclosures fell quickly in the Denver area, foreclosure activity in other areas of the state increased. Completed foreclosures increased 11 percent in El Paso County and 4 percent in Weld County. Among metropolitan counties, Mesa County reported the largest increase with completed foreclosures growing 223 percent year-over-year to a total of 359.

Totals reported are county-wide totals, and individual neighborhoods may still be experiencing increases and decreases in foreclosure activity that are quite different from what is seen at the county level.

The report noted that while foreclosures were limited to Colorado’s Front Range in earlier years, Colorado’s smaller and more rural counties have become increasingly affected by foreclosures. Teller County, Park County, Morgan County, and Fremont County all reported increases of 30 percent or more in completed foreclosures. On the Western Slope, completed foreclosure totals in Mesa County and nearby counties such as Delta, Montrose, Moffat and Rio Blanco Counties have all increased since 2008.

Economy foreclosure driving force

“These changes in the geography of foreclosures shows that the problem has moved beyond overbuilding and adjustable rate mortgages, said Stephanie Riggi, manager of the Colorado Foreclosure Hotline call center. “We’re seeing unemployment and falling wages as much more of a driving factor behind foreclosures, and it’s not just the Front Range that’s affected.”

Completed foreclosures are opened foreclosures that have proceeded to foreclosure sale at auction. Filings denote the beginning of the foreclosure process, and once a foreclosure is filed, the borrower has approximately four months to work with the lender to avoid a completed foreclosure. It is during this period that borrowers work with lenders and housing counselors to work out loan modifications, short sales, or other ways of curing the foreclosure. According to the report, since the second quarter of 2009, the number of foreclosures cured in Colorado has increased 50 percent.

The full report is available on the Division of Housing at this link.

Contact John Rebchook at JRCHOOK@gmail.com or 303-945-6865.

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And while the number of foreclosure closings – those that have completed the entire process and have been sold by public trustees – is down 7.9 percent from a year earlier, the rise in filings concerns experts that another wave of foreclosures could hit next year.

“New foreclosure filings are at a peak again,” said Ryan McMaken, spokesman for the Colorado Division of Housing, which released the report.

“That question is, what does this mean for the future? All of these filings…at some point might continue down the foreclosure path all the way to auctions,” held by public trustees, he continued.

He noted that the number of foreclosure sales “are muted now,” but that may not be a trend that is sustainable.

Ron Woodcock, a broker with RE/MAX Southeast, and an expert on short sales, said that recently banks have been faster and better at accepting approvals for the transactions, in which they agree to accept less than the full amount of the mortgage at the sale.

But he advises all of his clients to try to modify their loans before they entertain the notion of a short sale. Lenders will look at lowering interest rates, sometimes extending the lenght of the mortgage to as much as 40 years, which lowers monthly payments. Sometimes they’ll even lower the principal amount.

He said many lenders have beefed up their loan-mitigation departments to deal with increased demand.

“My personal experience is that is not as much of an ordeal as early this year,” Woodcock said. “It was bad. But this may be short-lived. I’m expecting we may be right back where we were earlier this year at the beginning of next year,” because of the influx of new foreclosure filings.

Shannon Peer, of the non-profit Brothers Redevelopment in Edgewater, said that what he is hearing from people who are in danger of losing their homes, that lenders are becoming more aggressive in helping distressed homeowners with loan modifications on a trial basis, but are not as quick as making them permanent.

“If you go back to June, when there were all these stories about no trial modifications in effect, and the banks were just in the process of implementing them and getting them ramped up,” he said. “Now, they have the manpower and the technical ability to do it, but they are not going from the trial programs to the permanent loan modifications as fast as we would like.”

And Stephanie Riggi, manager of the Colorado Foreclosure Hotline’s call center, said that calls to the hotline have increased about 40 percent from where they were a year earlier.  She said that four out of five people who complete counseling with their HUD-approved counselors, avoid foreclosures. She also is seeing a surge in people calling who are current on their mortgage payments, but want to take preventative measures to keep their homes.

“I think people are much more sophisticated and aware of programs available to them than they were in the past,” Riggi said.

Contact John Rebchook at JRCHOOK@gmail.com or 303-945-6865

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The number of completed foreclosures grew for the third quarter in a row, reaching a total of 5,618, according to a report released today by the Colorado Department of Local Affairs’ Division of Housing.

New foreclosure filings reached 12,468 during the third quarter for a nine-month total of 35,112, a 17.6 percent increase from the 29,852 filings in Colorado during the first nine months of 2008. .Completed foreclosures reached a 9-month total of 14,971.

During the full year of 2008, there were 39,333 total foreclosure filings and 21,301 total completed foreclosures.

In spite of growth in recent quarters, however, the total number of completed foreclosures fell during the first three quarters of the year when compared to the same period last year.

The 14,971 completed foreclosures in the first nine months of the year represented an 8 percent drop from the 16,265 during the first nine months of 2008. Not all homes that enter the foreclosure process end up being sold by public trustees at auctions. Some owners retain their homes through loan modifications and others sell them through short sales, in which the lender accepts less than the mortgage amount.

“The fact that completed foreclosures have been flat or falling as new foreclosures have risen is certainly a credit to our housing counselors,” said Stephanie Riggi, manager of the Colorado Foreclosure Hotline’s call center. “Plenty of new people are entering the foreclosure process, but fortunately, many of them are finding help with housing counselors and by using strategies such as loan modifications that don’t lead to a full foreclosure.”

Riggi noted that calls to the hotline (877-601-HOPE) have increased and the Hotline has received more than 3,000 calls each month since August of this year.

New foreclosure filings increased 18 percent from last year’s 9-month total of 29,852 to this year’s total of 35,112.

Changes in foreclosure activity varied by region. Comparing the three quarters of 2009 to the same period last year, the report notes that Adams, Arapahoe, and Denver Counties all experienced significant declines in total numbers of completed foreclosures. Denver’s completed foreclosure totals fell 34 percent while Adams County and Arapahoe County both fell 20 percent.

The largest increases in completed foreclosures were found in counties outside of metro Denver. For the first 9 months of the year, El Paso County reported an increase of 18 percent over the same period last year, while Mesa County reported an increase of 173 percent. Weld County, which has been among counties with the highest foreclosure rates in recent years, appears to have moderated significantly with an increase of only 2 percent. All other metropolitan counties reported decreases.

Some smaller counties have been driving increases as well.

Medium-sized counties such as Montrose, Chaffee, Park, La Plata, and Eagle Counties all reported significant increases in new activity in completed foreclosures. La Plata County, for example, reported a 300 percent increase while Eagle County reported an increase of 194 percent.

Foreclosure activity in Colorado has increased in recent quarters following the end of moratoria

An increase in foreclosure activity during recent quarters had been expected. Many lenders and investors had enacted both formal and informal moratoria on foreclosures, which slowed down the foreclosure process for many. As these moratoria were phased out, officials expected to see an increase in the number of new foreclosures. As a result, both foreclosure filings and completed foreclosures have grown each quarter since the first quarter of this year.

“Due to the moratoria and the changes in law, foreclosure totals dipped quite a bit at various times during 2008 and early 2009,” said Ryan McMaken, a spokesman for the Division of Housing. “We seem to have worked through much of that now and the trend points toward a situation in which foreclosures are not increasing rapidly, but they’re not going away either.”

In spite of recent decreases in foreclosure totals in Adams, Arapahoe and Denver Counties, high foreclosure rates persist.

Adams County reported a rate of 74 households per completed foreclosure, while Arapahoe and Denver Counties reported rates of 104 and 113 respectively. The rate in Boulder County, by contrast, was 329 households per completed foreclosure, while Mesa County reported 283 households per completed foreclosure.

The counties with the lowest foreclosure rates included Garfield and Pitkin Counties where there were 619 and 654 households per completed foreclosure, respectively.

The Colorado Division of Housing is a division of the Colorado Department of Local Affairs and collects foreclosure data from Public Trustees on a quarterly basis. The report, and past foreclosure reports, can be accessed online at the Colorado Division of Housing.

Contact John Rebchook at JRCHOOK@gmail.com.

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The hotline received more than 3,000 calls its first month in October 2006.

Since thenn,  call volume has soared above 85,000 calls, averaging anywhere between 2,000 to 4,000 calls per month.

“We had no idea what to expect when the Hotline began,” said Stephanie Riggi, the Hotline’s manager. Riggi was a key player in the founding of the Colorado Foreclosure Hotline. “But we’ve seen the Colorado Foreclosure Hotline successfully help homeowners since the day the phone lines opened.”

The Colorado Foreclosure Hotline is a toll-free number that networks 27 HUD-approved housing counseling agencies across the state. Homeowners concerned about losing their home to foreclosure who call the toll-free number are routed to the agency nearest their property by entering their Zip Code.

“The process only begins from there,” Riggi said. “We advocate for face-to-face housing counseling; callers need to set appointments with the agency to which they’re routed. All services are free of charge.”

In a face-to-face counseling session, borrowers learn about the foreclosure process and important deadlines; review their budget, loan product, and hardship information with a counselor to determine what workout option is best suited for their situation; and communicate with their lender alongside their housing counselor.

Despite increases in call-volume and constant changes to the housing counseling industry, the Colorado Foreclosure Hotline maintains the success rate established early on: four out of five homeowners who complete a housing counseling session will avoid foreclosure.

Approximately 20 percent of calls placed to the Colorado Foreclosure Hotline translate into a face-to-face housing counseling session.

Since the October 2006 inception, more than 13,000 Colorado homeowners have successfully avoided foreclosure. Workout options include loan modifications; refinancing; repayment plans; and pre-foreclosure sales and short sales.

Because of the focus on local, one-on-one counseling and its success in helping homeowners, the Colorado Foreclosure Hotline has received  national attention.

Since 2006, the program has been recognized by the National Association of Realtors; the National Governor’s Association; the Wall Street Journal; National Public Radio; CNN; and TIME Magazine. Colorado was the first state to launch a Hotline and network to deal with foreclosures.

Slated to continue offering services throughout the course of the foreclosure crisis, the Colorado Foreclosure Hotline continues to develop its staff, its outreach methods, and its efficiency.

For a complete look at the history of the Colorado Foreclosure Hotline, tomorrow afternoon visit the call center at Brothers Redevelopment, Inc., at  2250 Eaton St., Edgewater.

From 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Tuesday, the Colorado Foreclosure Hotline will host an open house to celebrate the success of the program and to thank the many people and organizations involved in this very collaborative effort.

For more information, visit www.coloradoforeclosurehotline.blogspot.com or contact the Colorado Foreclosure Hotline Call Center at (303) 685-4200.

For a list of housing counseling agencies and other partners or sponsors, visit www.coloradoforeclosurehotline.org. If you are in need of housing counseling or have questions regarding your mortgage, call the Colorado Foreclosure Hotline at 1-877-601-HOPE (4673).

Contact John Rebchook at JRCHOOK@gmail.com or 303-945-6865.

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