Hawaii's New Law Dropped Foreclosures to Lowest Level Since 2009

Effects of Hawaii's new foreclosure law severely curtailed activity against delinquent borrowers in June. The number of foreclosure filings against borrowers plummeted by two-thirds last month. There were 344 foreclosure filings in June, down 66 percent from 1,000 in the same month last year, real estate research firm RealtyTrac reported today. The June figure was the lowest for any month since January 2009, when there were 337 filings and the wave of troubled mortgages was still building. Hawaii's new foreclosure law, Act 48, was enacted in May. It was primarily intended to force lenders to make better efforts at negotiating loan modification plans with borrowers through a mediation program overseen by the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs.