Hawaii’s Mortgage Foreclosure Task Force has issued recommendations to state lawmakers that would make changes to a state law that went into effect last year and effectively cut the number of foreclosures by more than half.

The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports that one of the changes to Act 48, which changed the way lenders can conduct non-judicial foreclosures by giving owner-occupants the option of mediation before a foreclosure sale, would clarify for lenders the penalties for improper filings. The newspaper reports that since the law took effect in May, most foreclosures have been filed in state court. The newspaper reports that the number of foreclosure filings per month has dropped to about 400, down from nearly 1,000, since the law went into effect.