Scrooge, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and several major lenders will not be rapping on any more doors until after the first of the year. All have instituted a moratorium on foreclosures and evictions through the holiday season. A similar pause last December led to a significant decrease in the number of notices here in Atlanta.

The break last year included Thanksgiving as well, and the result was the lowest number of notices sent out in any month during 2010. We have only bettered December's 7,454 notices once in 2011, with 7,374 notices this past June.

The decrease is always good news, but, of course, there's more to the story than the raw data. First, analysts are quick to point out that these recent lows are still twice what we had before the bust. Second, these notices are just postponed, not dismissed altogether. They'll be sent out next month to start the count all over again.

It is important to remember that these numbers represent notices, not actual foreclosures or evictions. Not every notice leads to a foreclosure. Homeowners may find a loan modification or a more lucrative job in their stockings.

In metro Atlanta, 2011 has been a good year for foreclosure notices. This year we saw just 109,548 notices, compared to 2010's 127,140 and 2009's 117,107. That is good news, overall, but ...

There's always a "but" in this housing market. We've never experience a market like this, so analysts and forecasters and elves are having a hard time predicting what will come next. We do know, however, that foreclosure processing slowed up for a while as the government looked into the robo-signing and document irregularities the plagued the mortgage servicing industry.

But, we also know that those documentation reviews and revised procedures should keep at least some homes out of (wrongful) foreclosure. So that's good news.

It's no comfort to homeowners who are staring at default, foreclosure or eviction right now. We should all take the next couple of weeks off, enjoy family and food, and think about the good stuff.

Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "Foreclosures and evictions on hold for the holidays," Christopher Quinn, Dec. 12, 2011