Foreclosure filing rates across Mich. vary as new law kicks in

LANSING — In the two months leading up to the implementation of a broad new law designed to prevent foreclosures, several counties in the state recorded increases in foreclosure filings.

Michigan Messenger contacted registers of deeds in Kalamazoo, Genesee, Kent, Marquette, Ingham, Wayne and Grand Traverse counties and found filings for foreclosures varied wildly in May and June compared to the same time period in 2008.

Ingham, Marquette and Grand Traverse reported increases, while Wayne, Genesee and Kalamazoo counties reported decreases in filings.

The new foreclosure prevention law went into effect July 5 and requires lenders to notify borrowers that they can request negotiations through a housing counselor. Those negotiations can prevent a lender from foreclosing on a property.

Ingham County Register of Deeds Curtis Hertel, Jr. reported that in May his office received 180 sheriff deeds, and in June it filed 175. The office has handled 75 such filings so far this month. That’s a 20-percent increase in sheriff deed filings over those same months last year in Ingham County, home to Michigan’s state capital, Lansing. Hertel noted that overall filings for Ingham remain about 20 percent less over last year’s filings.

“My best guess on that was all the talk about foreclosure moratoriums on the federal level,” said Hertel speculating about the increase in filings. “[The banks] filed on those borrowers they didn’t want to work with. They just sped up the process.”

Hertel noted that the majority of foreclosure were centered in the city of Lansing, but that no community in the county had been spared by the crisis.

In Marquette County, home to the Upper Peninsula’s largest city, the register of deeds recorded eight sheriff deeds in May of this year and 13 in June. That compares to eight filings in May 2008 and 10 filings in June 2008.

Grand Traverse County reported 44 sheriff filings in both May and June of this year, up from an average of 30 per month for the first four months of the year.

In Kent County, Jerry Czaja, the deputy register of deeds, reported that in May 2008 there were 352 filings; in May of this year, there were 330 filings. This June, there were 319 such filings in Kent County versus the 235 filings from the previous June.

Czaja also reported there are about 600 properties in the county that are on hold while lenders and borrowers work out settlements. That number has stayed consistent since Obama announced the Hope for Homeowners program.

In Kalamazoo County, Jo Winterowd, the county’s land documents manager, reported that between Jan. 1 and April this year, the county had 530 filings. In May and June, the county had 190, meaning the county saw a slight decrease in filings, from an average of about 132 filings for the first four months to 95 filings in May and June.

Genesee County’s deputy register of deeds, Shannon Cooper, was surprised when she reviewed the numbers for Michigan Messenger. Cooper found that in May and June last year, the county, home to Flint, had 709 foreclosure filings. In May and June of this year, there were only 183.

In Wayne County, home to Detroit, 2009′s numbers thus far are lower than those from 2008. Last year in May, there were 2,125 sheriff deeds filed; that June, there were 1,761. But this year, there were 1,529 filings in May and 1,685 filings in June.