Mass. foreclosure deeds set another record in May
Foreclosure deeds in Massachusetts broke another record in May, the Warren Group said today.
Foreclosure deeds, the final step in the foreclosure process, rose 107.5 percent in May, from 677 in May 2007 to 1,405 in May 2008, said the Warren Group, adding that deeds are also up 5.3 percent from 1,334 in April 2008.
The Warren Group of Boston is a provider of regional real estate data and the publisher of Banker & Tradesman.
Petitions to foreclose, the first step in the mortgage process, declined in May, but that's because a new state law that took effect May 1 has extended the time period for the foreclosure process, the Warren Group noted.
There were 390 petitions to foreclose filed in May, down 81.9 percent from the 2,158 filed in May 2007 and down 88.3 percent from the 3,327 filed in April 2008, the Warren Group said.
“May petitions to foreclose were down to one-tenth of what they were in April, but that was surely a temporary decline,” Timothy Warren Jr., chief executive of the Warren Group, said in a statement. “Foreclosure deeds continued to rise to levels we haven’t seen since we started to record them in 2005, signaling that this problem is far from over."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
