Foreclosure petitions, deeds rise in May in Massachusetts

FORECLOSURE PETITIONS climbed 53 percent year over year in May in Massachusetts, while foreclosure deeds rose 82 percent, according to The Warren Group. / COURTESY THE WARREN GROUP
FORECLOSURE PETITIONS climbed 53 percent year over year in May in Massachusetts, while foreclosure deeds rose 82 percent, according to The Warren Group. / COURTESY THE WARREN GROUP

BOSTON – Foreclosure petitions climbed 53 percent year over year in May in Massachusetts, according to The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman, which said this marked the 15th consecutive month of petition filing increases.

Lenders filed 878 petitions to foreclose in May compared with 573 filings during the same month last year. A total of 4,430 petitions were filed in the first five months of the year compared with 2,776 petitions filed during the year-ago period.
Petitions mark the first step in the foreclosure process.

In Bristol County, foreclosure petitions rose 52 percent to 96 in May from 63 in May 2014.

“It is frustrating to see the continued rise in foreclosure activity across the Bay State,” Cassidy Murphy, editorial director of The Warren Group, said in a statement. “Lenders continue to wade through a large volume of delinquent mortgages that have been in the process for quite some time.”

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Statewide, foreclosure deeds increased 82 percent in May with 344 deeds filed compared with 189 filings in May 2014. A total of 1,623 deeds were filed January through May of this year, an 18 percent increase from the 1,374 deeds filed in the same time frame last year. Deeds represent completed foreclosures.
In Bristol County, foreclosure deeds jumped 157 percent to 36 in May, and auctions rose 6 percent to 101, The Warren Group said.

Auction announcements tracked by The Warren Group fell in May to 571 compared with 617 a year earlier, a 7.5 percent decrease. Year to date, auctions increased 58 percent, with 2,655 auction announcements recorded compared with 1,680 in the first five months of last year.

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