Foreclosure petitions rise 29% in April in Mass.

FORECLOSURE PETITIONS in Massachusetts increased year over year in April by 29.4 percent, representing the smallest increase in starts in more than a year, according to The Warren Group. / THE WARREN GROUP
FORECLOSURE PETITIONS in Massachusetts increased year over year in April by 29.4 percent, representing the smallest increase in starts in more than a year, according to The Warren Group. / THE WARREN GROUP

BOSTON – Foreclosure petitions in Massachusetts increased year over year in April by 29.4 percent, representing the smallest increase in starts in more than a year, according to The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman.

Petitions, according to The Warren Group, are the first step in the foreclosure process.
A total of 958 petitions to foreclose were filed by lenders in April, compared with 740 filings during this time last year. The Warren Group said that was the smallest increase since February 2014, when petition filings decreased 49 percent.
Year to date, petitions rose 61 percent with 3,552 filings recorded compared with 2,203 during the year-ago period.

“Petition activity recorded a less-dramatic increase in April, compared with the steep increases we’ve seen in the past several months,” Timothy M. Warren Jr., CEO of The Warren Group, said in a statement. “Hopefully, the trend will continue, and we will see more and more lenders finally clearing away those longtime delinquent mortgages.”

Foreclosure deeds – completed foreclosures – increased 53.7 percent in April, with 352 deeds filed compared with 229 filings in April 2014. A total of 1,279 deeds were filed from January to April this year, an 8 percent increase from 1,185 deeds filed during the four-month period last year.

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There were 399 auction announcements filed in April, a 3.2 percent decrease from the 412 announcements filed at the same time last year. Year-to-date, 2,044 auctions were announced, a 92 percent increase compared with the 1,063 announcements during the same period last year.

In Bristol County, foreclosure petitions in April rose 27.3 percent, to 112, while year to date, petitions increased 59 percent, to 387. Auctions rose 9.5 percent to 51, but jumped 117.8 percent to 281 year to date. Deeds climbed 50 percent to 39, and year to date, they inched up 1.5 percent to 136.

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