Bristol County, Mass. foreclosure starts climb on delayed petitions

FORECLOSURE STARTS in Bristol County and in Massachusetts statewide increased year-over-year for the month of April, but completed foreclosures declined. Above, a chart illustrating foreclosure petitions and deeds (representing completed foreclosures) in Massachusetts since January 2013. / COURTESY THE WARREN GROUP
FORECLOSURE STARTS in Bristol County and in Massachusetts statewide increased year-over-year for the month of April, but completed foreclosures declined. Above, a chart illustrating foreclosure petitions and deeds (representing completed foreclosures) in Massachusetts since January 2013. / COURTESY THE WARREN GROUP

BOSTON – Lenders in Bristol County, Mass., filed 88 foreclosure petitions in April, more than tripling the number of foreclosure starts in April 2013, when 24 petitions were filed, The Warren Group said Thursday.

Through April there were 243 foreclosure starts in Bristol County compared with 253 during the same period the previous year, representing a 4 percent decline.

Despite the dramatic increase in petitions for the month of April, the number of completed foreclosures in Bristol County fell 41.4 percent in April compared with a year earlier, dropping to 17 completed foreclosures from 29 foreclosures. Year-to-date foreclosure completions totaled 91, dropping 17.3 percent from the 110 foreclosures completed for the first four months of 2013.

The foreclosure petition increase in Bristol County paralleled a statewide trend for April, but Timothy M. Warren Jr., CEO of The Warren Group, said the data reflects the delayed processing of petitions to foreclose following new regulatory rules for executing foreclosures.

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“There is no need to sound the alarm for another crash in the real estate market,” Warren said. “Foreclosure starts are up by dramatic percentages simply because a backlog of long-delinquent mortgages is emerging from the pipeline.”

Across Massachusetts in April foreclosure starts climbed 126.3 percent year over year, from 327 to 740, the highest number of petitions filed so far this year. The 173 completed Massachusetts foreclosures in April, however, represented a 26.4 percent decline from the 235 foreclosures a year earlier.

Year to date foreclosure starts decreased 8.2 percent while completed foreclosures for the first four months of the year dropped 7.1 percent.

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