Mortgage servicers working on behalf of government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac completed 47,769 foreclosure prevention actions in the fourth quarter of 2015 – down from 34,966 in the third quarter, according to the fourth quarter foreclosure prevention report from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA).
That brought the total number of foreclosure prevention actions since the start of the conservatorships in September 2008 to more than 3.6 million. About 1.9 million of those were permanent loan modifications.
These foreclosure prevention actions have helped more than 3.0 million borrowers stay in their homes, the FHFA says in the report.
As of the end of the fourth quarter, about 515,420 loans, or about 3% of the loans serviced by the GSE-approved servicers, were 60-plus days delinquent – the lowest number since the first quarter of 2008.
The serious delinquency rate (90 days or more past due) fell below 1.5% at the end of the fourth quarter, continuing a steady decline from a peak of 4.93% in the first quarter of 2010.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac completed a total of 232,066 foreclosure prevention actions in 2015, including 196,815 home retention actions and 35,251 non-foreclosure home forfeiture actions.
To read the full report, click here.