Report: Mass. foreclosure problems are continuing

Massachusetts foreclosure deeds fell in September, and auction announcements held steady, but a rise in petitions - the first step in the foreclosure process - indicated that the state's problems with rising foreclosures are not finished.

So stated a report on statewide foreclosure activity out today from the Warren Group of Boston, the publisher of Banker & Tradesman and a provider of New England real estate data; the report included data from September and August.

Foreclosure deeds, which are the final step in the foreclosure process, rose 143.8 percent in September from 276 in the same month a year ago to 673, but that number was a decline from August 2007 when the number of foreclosure deeds was 1,018.

Foreclosure announcements rose 57.3 percent in September, from 599 during that month last year to 1,214 this year.

Petition data for August is the latest full month data available from Massachusetts Land Court, the Warren Group noted.

There were 3,115 petitions to foreclose filed in Land Court in August, the highest number of petitions filed in one month since the Warren Group began collecting foreclosure data in January 2005, the firm said. That August number rose 75.5 percent from the number in August 2006, and it was also up 25.3 percent from the number in July 2007, the Warren Group said.

"It's interesting that foreclosure deeds are falling off slightly, given the ever increasing number of petitions to foreclose we've been seeing," Timothy Warren Jr., chief executive of the Warren Group, said in a statement. "It could be that lenders are holding off on letting the ax fall."

Timothy Warren added of lenders, "Or they could be heeding Governor Deval Patrick's plea to slow down the process. Whatever the reason is, we can be sure more foreclosures are coming down the pike, as petitions don't seem to be letting up."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)