New laws may have stemmed foreclosures

Thursday, July 17, 2008

New laws may have stemmed foreclosures

Prince George’s has highest rate in the state

by Rebecca McClay | Staff Writer

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Maryland’s foreclosure rate dropped 23 percent in June from May 2008, significantly outpacing the 3 percent decline nationally, according to new data from RealtyTrac of Irvine, Calif.

The sharper decline in Maryland may be because of foreclosure relief laws signed by Gov. Martin O’Malley on April 3 that extended the timetable of a foreclosure from 15 days to 150 days and banned prepayment penalties. The laws took effect immediately.

Prince George’s County, which still has the highest foreclosure rate in the state, saw an increase of 29 percent in foreclosure filings in June from May. Prince George’s had 530 foreclosures, or one for every 598 households.

Montgomery County was among the counties that welcomed a drop last month. Its 212 filings in June were down 47 percent from May, ranking 13th in the state.

Frederick County’s foreclosure rate in June fell 62 percent from May, with one per 2,023 households. Frederick’s rate ranked 18th among Maryland’s 23 counties.

Foreclosures increased 617 percent in Maryland from the first quarter of 2007 to the first quarter of 2008, according to the Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development. With 11,380 foreclosures, Maryland ranked 12th in the nation in the first quarter. Prince George’s, Montgomery, Baltimore and Anne Arundel counties and Baltimore city accounted for 8,268 foreclosures that quarter, or 72.7 percent of all activity in Maryland.

The housing department in January predicted that roughly 33,000 Maryland homeowners would face interest rate resets this year.