JUPITER, Fla., Oct. 22 (UPI) -- Three U.S. lenders report $62.5 billion in single-family mortgages in foreclosure or with the process completed, January through June, Weiss Rating said Friday.
JPMorgan Chase Bank reported more than $21.7 billion in mortgages held that had been foreclosed in the first six months of the year or were in the process of foreclosure, the rating firm said. Wells Fargo had the second highest with $20.5 billion in those categories. Bank of America, third on the list, had nearly $20.3 billion either in the foreclosure pipeline or with the foreclosure complete in the same period.
The order reverses itself if mortgages with payments 30 days past due are included. That put BofA at $74.9 billion, followed by Wells Fargo at $68.5 billion and JPMorgan at $65.1 billion.
Among those three, however, Wells Fargo has the greatest exposure risk to bad mortgages relative to capital.
The value of bad mortgages at Wells Fargo is equal to 75.4 percent of its Tier 1 capital. At JPMorgan, the ratio is 66.8 percent. At BofA it is 66 percent.
Martin Weiss, chairman of Weiss Ratings, said, "Although only some portion of the past-due loans will ultimately go into foreclosure, these figures tell us that the biggest players are not only in deep, but could sink even deeper into the mortgage mayhem."
Nationally, foreclosures have been embroiled in a paperwork scandal that has forced most large lenders to suspend pursuing foreclosures in court until a review of paperwork has been completed. BofA said early this week it had completed its review concerning foreclosures in states that require a judicial review and would resubmit affidavits to courts starting Monday.
