Foreclosure petitions fall in Bay State, Bristol County

FORECLOSURE PETITIONS in Massachusetts fell 1.1 percent in July to 1,032  compared with 1,044 in July 2015, according to The Warren Group. / BLOOMBERG FILE PHOTO/MATTHEW STAVER
FORECLOSURE PETITIONS in Massachusetts fell 1.1 percent in July to 1,032 compared with 1,044 in July 2015, according to The Warren Group. / BLOOMBERG FILE PHOTO/MATTHEW STAVER

BOSTON – After 28 consecutive months of year-over-year percentage increases, foreclosure petitions in Massachusetts fell 1.1 percent in July compared with July 2015, according to The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman.
The Warren Group said Tuesday that a total of 1,032 petitions were filed by lenders to foreclose in July, compared with 1,044 filed in July last year. Year to date, there have been 7,648 petitions filed in the Bay State, a 20.2 percent increase from last year’s mark through July of 6,360.
In Bristol County, the number of foreclosure petitions fell 22.4 percent in July to 97 from 125 a year ago.

Petitions mark the first step in the foreclosure process, when lenders file notice of their intention to foreclose with the Commonwealth’s Land Court.
“After more than two years of increases in foreclosure petitions, starts are finally starting to slow,” Cassidy Murphy, editorial director of The Warren Group, said in a statement. “While a 1 percent drop in this case equates to a difference of 12 petitions – which is well within the margin of error – it’s still an encouraging sign that foreclosures are still stabilizing in the state.”
There were 820 auction notices filed in July, a 36.2 percent increase from 602 filed in July 2015. Year to date, there have been 5,468 auctions in Massachusetts, a 44.3 percent increase from the same stretch in 2015 when there were 3,789.
Auction notices also increased year over year in July in Bristol County, climbing 26.4 percent to 110 from 87.
An auction notice is a legal advertisement that the lender has scheduled an auction and publicly announced the time, date and address in local newspapers.
There were 560 foreclosure deeds filed in July, 45.1 percent more from 386 deeds filed in July 2015. So far this year, there have been a total of 3,432 deeds recorded, a 42 percent increase from 2,416 filed through July 2015.

In Bristol County, foreclosure deeds rose 36.5 percent to 71 from 52.
These deeds represent completed foreclosures, when lenders record a new deed at the Registry of Deeds indicating a change in the ownership of the foreclosed property.

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