Washington State

Office of the Attorney General

Attorney General

Bob Ferguson

The PI’s Aubrey Cohen covers an important story today:

The Seattle area's home foreclosure rate continued to rise through the first half of this year, and was 76th highest among 203 large U.S. metropolitan areas, according to a new report.
One in every 107 homes got a foreclosure filing in January through June in King, Pierce and Snohomish counties, with total filings up nearly 72 percent from the first six months of 2008 and 25.7 percent from the second half of last year, according to RealtyTrac, an Irvine, Calif., company that tracks foreclosures.

Slowing foreclosures by encouraging loan modifications remains one of our top priorities. That’s why we worked for 18 months on a settlement with Countrywide that requires thousands of loan modifications in our state. And that’s why we’re working with federal officials and the 25 largest loan servicers to speed the pace of loan modifications.

If you’re struggling with paying your mortgage or any other bills, be sure to check out our recession survival guide.

-Dan Sytman-