The March 2013 CoreLogic National Foreclosure Report stated that more than 1 million homes are in some stage of foreclosure. Here are a few more March 2013 foreclosure insights:
- Completed foreclosures rose from 52,000 in February 2013 to 55,000 in March, an increase of 6 percent.
- The five states with the largest number of completed foreclosures for the 12 months ending in March 2013 were Florida (103,000), California (83,000), Michigan (70,000), Texas (53,000), and Georgia (48,000). Those five states account for almost half of all completed foreclosures nationally.
- The five states with the highest foreclosure inventory as a percentage of all mortgaged homes were Florida (9.7 percent), New Jersey (7.3 percent), New York (5.0 percent), Maine (4.4 percent), and Illinois (4.4 percent).
In light of such data, insurers should bear in mind that property owners could be falsifying claims to offset the financial pressures that contributed to their properties going into foreclosure. In fact, having a home in foreclosure could be a red flag for fraud. That’s why we offer ISO ClaimAlert™: Foreclosure, the newest tool in the ISO ClaimSearch® suite. It scans all claims submitted to ISO ClaimSearch, flagging those with properties in foreclosure and notifying adjusters that they may need to investigate further.