BOSTON – Foreclosure petitions rose nearly 6 percent in March in Massachusetts to 1,247 compared with 1,179 filed in March 2016, The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman, said Tuesday.
This was the first year-over-year increase since September.
“Though we’ve seen a steady decline in foreclosure starts for six months as backlogs of legal work were cleared out, petitions have inched up in March,” Timothy Warren, CEO of The Warren Group, said in a statement. “I’m pretty confident that we will see a return to declining foreclosure starts in the months ahead. If so, the increase in March will be a random blip on the radar screen.”
Foreclosure petitions fell in Bristol County however, by 4.2 percent to 138 from 144.
Petitions are the first entry in the public record in the foreclosure process, when lenders file a notice of intention to foreclose with the Land Court.
Statewide, 648 foreclosure auctions were scheduled in March, a decrease of 13.1 percent from March 2016, when 746 auctions were scheduled. Again, Bristol County was opposite, with a nearly 6 percent increase in auctions in March, to 90 from 85 last year.
As for foreclosure deeds, 625 foreclosure deeds were recorded statewide in March, a 0.6 percent increase from 621 recorded in March 2016. Deeds represent completed foreclosures, when lenders put the change in ownership of the foreclosed property in the public record at registries of deeds.
In Bristol County, deeds also increased, rising 10.8 percent to 72 from 65, The Warren Group said.
Lori Stabile is the PBN Web Editor.
