Wyoming’s Pre-Foreclosure Rates Plummet, But The Strain On Homeowners Remains

A State in Decline — But Not Necessarily at Ease

In a time when housing conversations are often dominated by escalating prices and bidding wars in fast-growing cities, Wyoming offers a quieter but no less meaningful story. One that reflects the complex aftershocks of recession, inflation, and instability that continue to ripple through the housing market. This September, pre-foreclosure filings across the state dropped significantly, with only 17 properties entering early stages of foreclosure, a 37.04% decline from August and a staggering 61.36% drop from the same time last year.

On the surface, these trends signal stabilization. The cascade of pre-foreclosure notices that swelled in 2023 seems to have receded. But dig deeper, and it becomes clear that for many of Wyoming’s working-class families, the numbers may obscure more than they reveal.

The Numbers Tell a Story of Decline

In September 2024, Wyoming recorded just 17 pre-foreclosure notices down from 27 in August and 44 in September 2023. Such a sharp month-over-month and year-over-year downturn appears promising. But the broader annual trend reminds us that the number of pre-foreclosure filings is still in flux.

Through the first nine months of 2024, the state has seen 147 pre-foreclosure filings. Less than a third of those recorded in 2023, which closed out with 548 such filings. On paper, the state is on track for its lowest full-year total since 2022, during the tail-end of pandemic-era foreclosure protections.

But Wyoming’s story does not begin or end with statewide totals. And certainly not with statistical outliers.

The Invisible Crisis Behind The Decrease

To understand how fewer pre-foreclosure filings might still signal pervasive struggle, consider what constitutes a pre-foreclosure. It isn’t eviction or foreclosure auction. It’s often a frightened letter from a lender stating that a homeowner has fallen behind on mortgage payments, but still has time to recover. A family can linger in this state for months, tethered to possibility even while spiraling toward crisis.

Paula M., a single mother of three in a rural Wyoming town who requested anonymity for privacy, is facing just such a dilemma. After losing her job in early 2024 when her employer consolidated operations, she managed to scrape by for several months using severance and pandemic-era savings. But by summer, her finances had unraveled.

“I got the [pre-foreclosure] notice in August,” Paula says. “And with three kids, rent prices going up, groceries getting ridiculous, it’s like drowning, with no help in sight.”

Her home did not appear in September’s totals. Thanks to a community church and a temporary gig, she made a partial mortgage payment in August that forestalled official proceedings. But the underlying pressure hasn’t disappeared. “I’m surviving for now,” she says. “But I don’t know about next month.”

This is the double-edged sword of data: while the drop in official filings suggests relief, stories like Paula’s suggest caution. Many homeowners, especially lower-income families, are managing to delay foreclosure but remain financially precarious, one unexpected bill away from starting the process all over again.

A Look at Wyoming’s Decade-Long Trends

To get perspective beyond the monthly figures, one need only examine Wyoming’s foreclosure history since 2005. The Great Recession brought a tidal wave of foreclosures, peaking in 2017 and 2018 with over 600 pre-foreclosure filings annually. Then came the pandemic and federal foreclosure moratoriums between 2020 and 2021 sent filings plummeting into the low hundreds.

What’s remarkable is that despite economic turbulence, including spiking inflation and the Federal Reserve’s sharply rising interest rates, the 2024 foreclosure totals are, so far, moderate compared to recent history. However, that moderation may be deceptive.

Foreclosure experts note that mortgage forbearance and loan modification programs, along with pandemic savings cushions, delayed the impact of these broader economic pressures. But the relief may be ending. “We’re seeing a lot of households that were holding on by a thread,” says one mortgage counselor with a nonprofit housing group. “They’re not filing yet, but it’s not because they’re fine, it’s because they’re out of options that don’t show up in foreclosure data.”