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Boston, Dec. 29, 2014- Foreclosure petition activity in the Bay State posted big gains in November, climbing up by 150.0 percent year-over-year, according to The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman.

Lenders filed a total of 643 foreclosure petitions in November, compared with 257 during the same month a year ago. This marked the ninth consecutive month of year-over-year increases. From January to November, a total of 7,027 foreclosure starts were filed, a 42.4 percent increase compared with 4,935 petitions recorded during the same period last year. Petitions mark the first step in the foreclosure process.

Foreclosures2014Dec“The large gains seen in November in all three stages of foreclosure activity are expected given the backlog of delinquent mortgages in the system,” said Timothy M. Warren Jr., CEO of The Warren Group. “The good news is that November foreclosure starts are down significantly from the 965 we saw in October. In fact the November total is the lowest we have seen since June.”

Foreclosure deeds also recorded big gains, jumping up 20.3 percent in November with 344 completed foreclosures recorded compared with 286 a year ago. This marked the fourth consecutive increase in deeds year-over-year. Year-to-date, a total of 3,305 foreclosure deeds were recorded so far this year, down 4.5 percent from the 3,459 deeds recorded during the same period last year.

The number of auction announcements tracked by The Warren Group increased by double digits in November. Auction announcements rose 24.0 percent to 556 from 449 in November 2013. From January through November, 5,000 auctions were announced, an 11.2 percent decline from the 5,628 auctions recorded during the same period in 2013.