Feared flood of foreclosures in California may be averted
Los Angeles Times
By Peter Y. Hong
... Signs are emerging that a much-feared escalation of California home foreclosures may not happen, as banks respond to government pressure and scale back their repossessions of troubled properties. Statewide, the number of homes taken back by lenders dropped sharply in the three months ended Sept. 30, falling 37% over the same period a year earlier, when foreclosures were at an all-time high...
... Bank of America Corp., one of the nation's biggest lenders, said the slowdown in foreclosures could be attributed to efforts to "exhaust every possible option" to keep borrowers in their homes. "We do not hold foreclosed properties off the market," the bank said in a statement. "We have an obligation... to prepare foreclosed properties for market and sell them as efficiently as possible." Others believe that big lenders and government officials are operating under a tacit agreement: Keep a lid on foreclosures.
"I don't think people are saying it to each other, but they're seeing it's in nobody's interest to have mass foreclosures," said Richard Green, director of USC's Lusk Center for Real Estate...