Hawaii's state legislature last year passed a law that requires mortgage servicers to give delinquent borrowers on owner-occupied properties the option of having a dispute resolution professional assist with foreclosure mitigation in front of a lender representative before a non-judicial foreclosure sale can proceed.

So servicers started processing foreclosures through the state's court system.

Shortly after the legislation was passed, foreclosures in Hawaii plummeted by half compared to a year earlier. But filings have since been growing and are expected to continue increasing.

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