Foreclosure petitions continue to rise in Mass. in May

WHILE IT IS LIKELY THAT 2016 will see more foreclosure activity in Massachusetts than in 2015, the rate of year-over-year increase is slowing, according to The Warren Group. / COURTESY THE WARREN GROUP
WHILE IT IS LIKELY THAT 2016 will see more foreclosure activity in Massachusetts than in 2015, the rate of year-over-year increase is slowing, according to The Warren Group. / COURTESY THE WARREN GROUP

BOSTON – For the 27th consecutive month on a year-over-year basis, foreclosure petitions rose in Massachusetts in May, according to figures released by The Warren Group on Thursday.
The real estate data firm said that lenders filed 1,130 petitions to foreclose in the month across the state, an increase of 28.7 percent from May 2015. Through the first five months of the year, 5,614 petitions have been filed, a 26.7 percent increase over the same period last year. Petitions are the first step in the foreclosure process. Bristol County saw a 17.7 percent increase in monthly petition filings, as well as a 23.8 percent increase through the first five months of the year.
Despite the increase, Warren Group CEO Timothy Warren Jr. said that the “gain so far this year is a significant drop off from last year.”
Still, Warren added, “while the increase is moderating, it seems unlikely that the total number of foreclosures will start to decrease in 2016.”
In addition to reporting on petition filings, The Warren Group said that 875 auction notices were filed in May, a 52.7 percent increase over May 2015. An auction notice is the legal advertisement that a lender has scheduled an auction, along with the time, date and address of the property in question. To date auction notices have shown a 41.5 percent increase over the first five months of 2015.
Auctions increased 6.9 percent in May year over year in Bristol County, and 14.3 percent through May compared with 2015.
And finally, there were 458 foreclosure deeds filed in May, a 33.1 percent gain over the year. A deed is filed when a foreclosure is completed. Through May there have been 2,402 foreclosure deeds filed in the Bay State, an increase of 47.9 percent.
Bristol County saw a year-over-year gain in foreclosure deeds in May of 38.9 percent, and an increase of 48.3 percent through May compared with 2015.

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