The mortgage and foreclosure crisis

The mortgage crisis, which has made it extremely difficult to refinance delinquent mortgages or sell a home to exit a bad mortgage, won't help the worrisome foreclosure trend.

The number of foreclosure auctions advertised in Massachusetts newspapers in July exceeded 1,000 for a fifth month in a row, according to The Warren Group's report today on foreclosure activity in the state.

"July held more of the same for Massachusetts homeowners," Timothy Warren, Warren Group's chief executive, said.

"More people who get into trouble are having a hard time getting out. They are finding it more difficult to refinance or to sell, so more foreclosures are making it to the auction process," he said.

There were 1,128 scheduled auctions in July -- up 130 percent from last year. That is below April's peak of 1,647. During that time, state regulators began assisting some delinquent borrowers in renegotiating their mortgages or halting foreclosures to give the homeowners a reprieve.

But it seems too early to gauge whether foreclosure auctions are truly in decline.

That's because lenders who initial filed notices of potential foreclosure in Massachusetts Land Court continued to increase: 2,185 in July, up 66 percent from a year ago. July marked the 10th month in a row in which filings exceeded 2,000 statewide.