 CRL: Foreclosure Crisis Not Even Half Over Tuesday, November 22, 2011 By Brian Collins The on-going foreclosure crisis is "not even halfway" over, according to a new Center for Responsible Lending study that looked at mortgages originated between 2004 and 2008. The report found that as of February, 2.7 million, or 6.4%, of households that financed during the housing boom have lost those homes. "Strikingly, an additional 8.3% -- 3.6 million households -- were still at immediate, serious risk of losing their homes," CRL report says. CRL is the research and policy arm of the North Carolina Self-Help credit union, which warned regulators and Congress about the risks of subprime lending and non-traditional mortgages during the boom. The report finds that these products (2/28 ARMs and payment-option ARMs) are "strongly linked" to foreclosures. Nearly 13% of borrowers that financed with a payment-option or 2/28 ARM during the 2004-2008 period have lost their homes and another 11.7% are seriously delinquent as of February 2011. In comparison, only 3.3% of borrowers with a standard fixed-rate loan or ARM have lost their home. CRL researchers also analyzed racial and ethnic disparities in foreclosures. "Overall, the low- and moderate-income African Americans and middle and higher-income Latinos have experienced the highest foreclosure rates," CRL says.
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