State's foreclosure rate rises; national rank improves to 25

By John Rebchook, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published June 5, 2008 at 6 p.m.

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Colorado was ranked No. 25 in the nation in foreclosure rates, according to a national Mortgage Bankers Association report released Thursday.

In the fourth quarter, Colorado was No. 24, even though its foreclosure rate last quarter rose to 3.28 percent from 3.08 percent in the fourth quarter.

In the first quarter of 2007, Colorado ranked No. 14 with 2.48 percent of first mortgage loans being seriously delinquent or having entered the foreclosure process.

"We are moving in the right direction," said Chris Holbert, president of Mortgage Bankers Association.

"We are 25th in the nation - not in first, fifth or 10th place," as other reports have indicated, he said.

That's because most states use a judicial process that consolidates various foreclosure filings into one event, while Colorado is unique in using only public trustees, where one foreclosure takes several events, leading to overcounting, he said.

Holbert also noted that if homes have more than one delinquent loan, they are reported as separate foreclosures for the same property. The Colorado Division of Housing tracked 39,915 loan filings in 2007 for 25,320 properties.

"It's a serious problem in Colorado, but our foreclosure problem is growing at a much lower rate than many other states," Holbert said.

The report showed that Florida and Nevada were No. 1 and No. 2, with foreclosure rates of 6.7 percent and 6.37 percent, respectively.

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