Dodd's foreclosure math: 8,100 filings per day

If you were listening to CNN today, you heard Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut (pictured) trot out a pretty ominous statistic: "In the month of April," he said, "8,100 filings for foreclosure occurred every single day in the month of April. The previous month it was between 7,000 and 8,000."

What the senator is saying is true, but it's a tiny bit misleading, so I'll clarify: That's 8,100 foreclosure filings -- including notices of default -- accross America per day in April. By my math, the number of actual foreclosures in April was much smaller, roughly 1,816 per day across the country.

From CNN Money's coverage of RealtyTrac's April foreclosure data: "Some 243,353 households, nearly one in 519, received a foreclosure filing during April, according to the U.S. Foreclosure Market Report from RealtyTrac, an online marketplace that tracks foreclosed properties. That was up 4% from March, and surpassed the record of 239,851 set in August 2007. ... RealtyTrac's measure of foreclosure filings includes notices of default, auction sales and bank repossessions. According to the report, 54,574 were fully repossessed by banks in April."

Your thoughts? Comments? E-mail story tips to peter.viles@latimes.com
Photo Credit: Bloomberg News

Comments

[Cal]

Definitely some double counting done, the realtytrac numbers is a sum of the NOD + NTS + REO done in a single month.

The houses going to REO are the only ones actually foreclosed on.

One note, in comparing the trustee sale data from foreclosure radar, realtytrac and Dataquick. Realtytracs data is oddly understated. It matches fine for NOD, but NTS and REO it is significantly lower. Not sure why.

[jb]

Dodd needs to be fired. I am sending a check to Bunning in Kentucky (its only $100, but note, I am a democrat and have never voted for a republican in my life). We need to send a message to our useless politicians - stop whoring to banks/builders/borrowers or we will replace you.

[tew]

Dodd is doing the bidding for his home state's hedge fund clients and also setting up various government agencies (and NGO's funded by them) with more money and power. Of course he's going to try to scare people. That's what wicked politicians do - use a crisis (or create the perception of one) to fog people's minds so that they can manipulate them.

It's so easy too. Sit back and think how laughable it is. Oh heavens, people will have to rent apartments! The horror! Yet, that's the primary consequence for nearly all the overleveraged people who aren't going to pay their mortgages. That's a "crisis"? That warrants massive redistribution of debt and risk from speculators and spendthrifts onto the backs of working people and future generations?

[Nick]

Couldn't agree more with the Dodd-fired comment (I tried, but I was already in complete agreement). He's not only absolutely useless, but actively counter-productive to getting the current situation resolved, making housing affordable, and preventing future bubble/burst events. Replacing Dodd with a rock would do more good for the US housing market than any proposal he has had.

[Martin Howell]

Where was Chris Dodd when we really needed him? The real action should have been taken years ago realing in the mortgage community. I imagine, he was puffing out his chest trying to take credit for our great economy.

Chris Dodd, I see no reason to bail out the lender or borrower. Remember the "resolution trust" years and how that worked its way out?

Dodd, you are way late and a major part of the problem. I do not want to bail out anyone, it isn't fair to the rest of us.

Why subsidize the financials and the greedy when it was them that made the mistake (along with you and the other dumbasses in Congress).

You and your buddies were asleep at the wheel. Wake up, you are costing us way to much.