Foreclosures drop in Massachusetts

By Chris Reidy, Globe Staff

A total of 737 foreclosure deeds were recorded in Massachusetts for the month of September, a 17 percent drop from the same month a year ago, the Warren Group said.

In August, more than 900 Massachusetts home owners lost their properties to foreclosure, the highest monthly total so far in 2011, according to the Warren Group, a Boston firm that tracks local real estate data.

There were 1,164 foreclosure petitions filed against Massachusetts homeowners in September 2011. Petitions are the first step in the foreclosure process. Last month’s total of petitions was nearly 51 percent lower than the total for September 2010, the Warren Group said.

“While year-over-year foreclosure activity dropped, we did see a higher level in the third quarter than we saw in earlier quarters this year,” Timothy M. Warren Jr., chief executive of the Warren Group, said in a statement. “A total of 4,002 petitions were filed in the third quarter, up significantly from 2,535 and 2,880 in the first and second quarters, respectively. This indicates banks are moving more aggressively against borrowers who have fallen behind on their mortgage payments. In order for the market to recover, the glut of foreclosures hanging over the market needs to go through the system.”

There was a lull in foreclosure activity when many major US lenders slowed down the foreclosure process after reports surfaced that some employees, now known as robosigners, were putting their names on thousands of legal documents a day without reviewing the paperwork.

But now, as Timothy Warren pointed out, the bank are moving more aggressively.