Consumer protections help curtail Texas foreclosures
Nationwide, the number of home foreclosures rose nearly 60% from February 2007 to February 2008, while foreclosures in Texas actually decreased 1% during the same period. And Texas foreclosures recently took a steep nosedive. Foreclosure filings in Texas dropped 17% from January to February.

Despite being such a large state, Texas ranks only 17th in foreclosures, below the national average. One reason is that Texas homeowners enjoy strong constitutional protections under the state’s home-equity lending law.

These consumer protections include a 3% cap on lender’s fees, 80% loan-to-value ratio (compared to many other states that allow borrowers to obtain 125% of their home’s value), and mandatory judicial sign-off on any foreclosure proceeding involving a defaulted home-equity loan.

In 1997, the Texas Association of REALTORS® urged lawmakers to pass these key consumer-protection measures, and Texas voters ratified them in a constitutional election. Texas REALTORS® continue to oppose repeated attempts to weaken these important consumer protections.

Sources: RealtyTrac, Texas Association of REALTORS®