Record Number of Foreclosures Avoided, Group Says

Washington, DC, Dec. 1, 2008--The mortgage industry set a record for the number of mortgage workouts done in October, according to Hope Now, an alliance of mortgage servicers, counselors and investors working to help homeowners avoid foreclosure.

The group reported that 225,000 foreclosures were prevented in October -- 13,000 more than its previous record in September.

During October, 103,000 mortgage modifications and 122,000 payment plans were completed, according to Hope Now statistics. The number of modifications is up by 24% and the number of payment plans is up by 9.8% over the past three months.

"The growing use of loan modifications is not an accident," said Faith Schwartz, Hope Now's executive director. "The U.S. economy is still troubled and that means that changing the terms of a loan is an increasingly appropriate way to keep more homeowners in their homes. Hope Now members are likely to continue to consider them as long as the broader economy continues to struggle."

Schwartz said that efforts to streamline the foreclosure prevention process are working, and that the group is "helping more homeowners avoid foreclosure than ever before."