The Morning Report
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Another California anti-foreclosure measure went into effect this week. It’s called the “California Foreclosure Prevention Act,” and it puts a 90-day moratorium on certain qualifying foreclosures. The name “California 90-Day Procrastination on a Subset of Foreclosures Act” was apparently deemed too unwieldy.
Matthew Padilla of the OC Register summed up the legislation earlier this week. It seems there are some loopholes, one interesting example being that investor-owned loans are exempt. “Investor-owned” refers to those loans that were packaged up and resold to investors. As far as I know, this category accounts for a sizable chunk of mortgages out there.
Between the various exclusions and the fact that this law appears to more or less kick the can three months down the road anyway, it’s not clear what long term effects it will have — if any.
Short term, though, we might be in for some wacky gyrations in San Diego foreclosure activity. The big late-2008 spike down (and then up) for mortgage defaults, pictured to the right, is thought to have been caused by the last round of anti-foreclosure legislation. We can probably expect more of the same ahead.
— RICH TOSCANO