Mortgage Default Notices Drop in California

For more real estate news, please visit: DQNews.com. And check out BankingMyWay to compare mortgage rates/

LA JOLLA, Calif. -- The number of mortgage default notices filed against California homeowners fell last quarter for the first time in three years as a change in the state's formal foreclosure process took effect.

If that procedural change hadn't kicked in during early September, indications are that third-quarter default filings would have been about the same as the record number filed in this year's second quarter, a real estate information service reported.

Mortgage servicers recorded 94,240 "notices of default" on homes during the July-through-September period. That was down 22.5% from a revised record of 121,673 in this year's second quarter, and up 29.9% from 72,571 in third-quarter 2007, according to MDA DataQuick. The San Diego-based firm's default statistics begin in 1992.

The last time default filings fell from one quarter to the next was in the second quarter of 2005.

This year default filings totaled about 40,000 for each month from March to August. In September the number dropped to 14,995 filings as a new state law took effect early that month. It requires that in many instances lenders must try to contact homeowners delinquent on their mortgage payments, then wait 30 days before filing a default notice.

During the first week of September, before the law took effect, roughly 2,000 default notices were filed each business day in California. In the week after the law kicked in, average daily filings plunged to less than 100, then went back up to around 500 daily the final week of September.

Notices of Default (first step in foreclosure process) Houses and condos

County/Region 2007Q3 2008Q3 Yr/Yr% Los Angeles 13,583 17,073 25.7% Orange 3,882 5,692 46.6% San Diego 5,673 7,062 24.5% Riverside 9,250 11,714  26.6% San Bernardino 7,038 9,110 29.4% Ventura 1,377 1,676 21.7% Imperial 259 568 119.3% SoCal 41,062 52,895 28.8% San Francisco 252 353 40.1% Alameda 2,126 3,482 63.8% Contra Costa 3,216 4,103 27.6% Santa Clara 1,655 2,814 70.0% San Mateo 581 797 37.2% Marin 172 258 50.0% Solano 1,513 1,934 27.8% Sonoma 749 1,021 36.3% Napa 163 265 62.6% Bay Area 10,427 15,027 44.1% Santa Cruz 267 342 28.1% Santa Barbara 598 593 -0.8% San Luis Obispo 249 370 48.6% Monterey 163 1,260 67.8% Coast 1,865 2,565 37.5% Sacramento 4,947 5,541 12.0% San Joaquin 2,961 3,432 15.9% Placer 728 973 33.7% Kern 2,196 2,774 26.3% Fresno 1,807 2,202 21.9% Madera 320 499 55.9% Merced 1,076 1,399 30.0% Tulare 595 883 48.4% Yolo 303 405 33.7% El Dorado 278 342 23.0% Stanislaus 1,909 2,636 38.1% Kings 108 140 29.6% San Benito 178 202 13.5% Yuba 227 307 35.2% Colusa 54 68 25.9% Sutter 155 269 73.5% Central Valley 17,842 22,072 23.7% Mountains* 417 526 26.1% North Calif* 958 1,155 20.6% Statewide* 72,571 94,240 29.9% *Not all counties listed Countywide Trustees Deed counts can be found at dqnews.com