Mass. foreclosure petitions, deeds increase in July

YEAR TO date, foreclosure petitions increased 61 percent in Bristol County compared with the same seven-month period a year ago, according to The Warren Group. / COURTESY THE WARREN GROUP
YEAR TO date, foreclosure petitions increased 61 percent in Bristol County compared with the same seven-month period a year ago, according to The Warren Group. / COURTESY THE WARREN GROUP

BOSTON – Foreclosure petitions and deeds increased year over year in July in Massachusetts, but auctions declined, according to data released Wednesday by The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman.
Foreclosure petitions jumped 49 percent year over year in July, marking the 17th consecutive month of increases in petition filings, the group said.
“Foreclosures continue to climb after a few years of very low activity as lenders catch up with regulatory changes,” Cassidy Murphy, editorial director at The Warren Group, said in a statement. “While these numbers are higher relative to last year, the steady increase does not yet represent a cause for alarm.”

Lenders filed 1,044 petitions to foreclose in July this year, compared with 702 filed during the same year-ago period. To date, 6,360 petitions have been filed in Massachusetts, a 60 percent increase from the first seven months of 2014.
Petitions are the first step in the foreclosure process, when banks petition the state courts for the right to foreclose, The Warren Group said.

Statewide, 386 foreclosure deeds were filed in July, a 77 percent increase from 218 filed in July last year. So far, 2,416 deeds were filed in Massachusetts in 2015, a 27 percent increase from 1,897 filed through July 2014.
Deeds represent completed foreclosures, when banks inform the registry of deeds that there has been a change in the ownership of the foreclosed property.

The Warren Group tracked 574 auction announcements last month, a 1.5 percent decrease from 584 filed in July 2014. There have been 3,761 auctions in Massachusetts year to date, a 35 percent increase from the same period in 2014 when there were 2,789.
An auction is a bank’s declaration that efforts to repair the loan with the borrower have failed, and the property will go up for auction.
Bristol County saw increases in foreclosure petitions and deeds year over year, while auctions held steady at 79 during the same period. Petitions increased 54 percent to 125 and deeds jumped 92.6 percent to 52.
Year to date, petitions increased 61 percent in Bristol County to 715, and deeds dipped 1 percent to 275. Auctions grew 50 percent to 546, year to date.

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