Average Foreclosure Takes 17 Months

There are several factors contributing to the reason why it takes so long to actually foreclose on a home and evict the residents. For one thing, banks are bombarded with foreclosures every month and the stack of papers just continues to grow. There is not enough manpower in the banks and lending institutions to carry out a foreclosure quickly and efficiently. Many people are taking advantage of this and living in their homes for free for many months.

Another reason for the delay is due to the long review process for mortgage loan modifications. Many homeowners are choosing this route in hopes of reducing the amount of their loan payments each month so they can afford their mortgage and stay in their home for the time being. But loan modifications are a lengthy process which makes the banks even more backed up than they already are.

Throw into the mix last year’s problem with bank employees improperly filing mortgage documents without reading them fully and it’s a perfect storm of problems for banks and mortgage lenders. There were literally tens of thousands of mortgages filed last year that were never given a proper evaluation. And now the banks have to be extra careful so there is not a repeat of this scandal.

According to one mortgage industry research company, there were about 2.2 million homes in the foreclosure process at the end of last month. And since there are more coming along every day, that 17-month average may get even longer before year’s end. Some analysts are predicting that the average time a person can stay in a home before actually getting evicted will be between 22 and 23 months by the end of 2011. Some banks are trying to speed along the process by hiring more workers to deal just with the foreclosures they have on their desks. But this probably won’t get the process done too much quicker, or at least not enough to make it noticeable.

Others are saying that it would be a bad idea to speed up the process because it would mean a huge number of homes on the market. That could lead to depressed prices on the homes which could be bad news for the market. Are you in the middle of a foreclosure? How long has it been since you’ve made a mortgage payment? Or are you one of the lucky ones who can still make their payment without any problem?