Foreclosures are down, but debtors are losing anyway

The COVID-19 pandemic's destruction of in-person shopping and dining is not yet bringing the wave of foreclosures that many expected last March. Forbearances by lenders and PPP assistance have helped delay the day of reckoning.

But changes are coming, and the expected shift to more restaurant takeout and online shopping is likely to accelerate the decline of the American shopping mall. North Point Mall in Alpharetta, Georgia, was a thriving center of commerce until the opening of the upscale Avalon mixed-use development nearby in 2014. North Point changed owners in 2018, and now those owners have handed the keys back to their lender, New York Life. Plans are underway to modify some of North Point's empty spaces into housing and recreational areas.

Although North Point Mall wasn't sold on the courthouse steps, the result is the same--the lender has taken back the collateral from a defaulting debtor. There's a saying that what can't go on forever, won't. Quiet malls and heavy debt don't mix.