For millions, 2010 was a difficult year.
Foreclosures were at a record high in 2010, and more than 1 million people lost their homes, even as notices started leveling off during the end year.
In total, there were nearly 2.9 million foreclosure notices filed during the year, according to report released Thursday by RealtyTrac. That was a record high, but just 1.7% above 2009.
The story notes that foreclosures would have been higher had lenders not reduced the number of notices toward the end of the year due to complaints about robo-signing.
What to think about this high number of foreclosures? Megan McArdle thinks that it’s a complicated legal matter, and hard to assess. Thomas Sowell thinks that bailing out homeowners is bad policy.
I’d say both are true: it is legally complicated, but except for the truly disadvantaged, bailing out homeowners is bad policy (and denies prospective buyers their chance for a home). There’s also much demonizing of lenders in all this, when not all lenders are at fault for unlawful practices.
In most of these cases, especially for those borrowers with good incomes, this should be a matter between lender and borrower, without government intervention.