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Auctions rose 7.9 percent; deeds increase 67.2 percent

BOSTON, November 2, 2016 – Foreclosure petitions in Massachusetts dipped by 18.7 percent in September compared with September 2015, according to a new report from The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman.

Lenders in the Bay State filed 958 petitions to foreclose in September, compared with 1,179 filed in September of last year. There have been 9,572 petitions filed year to date in Massachusetts, a 12.6 percent increase from last year’s mark through September with 8,498. Petitions mark the first step in the foreclosure process, when lenders file notice of their intention to foreclose with the Commonwealth’s Land Court.

“Foreclosure starts are beginning to ease,” said Timothy Warren., CEO of The Warren Group. “The backlog of delinquent mortgages being fed into the foreclosure pipeline may be on the wane after two-and-a-half years of heavy processing work. The real estate market in Massachusetts is too strong to have foreclosure starts increase at the recent pace.”

There were 623 auction notices filed in September, a 7.9 percent increase from the 577 filed in September 2015. There have been 6,832 auctions scheduled in Massachusetts in 2016, a 38.6 percent increase from the same stretch in 2015 when there were 4,928. An auction notice is a legal advertisement that the lender has scheduled an auction and publicly announced the time, date and address in local newspapers.

There were 602 foreclosure deeds filed in September, a 67.2 percent increase from the 360 deeds filed at the same time last year. There have been a total of 4,702 deeds recorded in Massachusetts year to date, a 48.8 percent increase from the 3,159 filed through September 2015. Deeds represent completed foreclosures, when lenders record a new deed at the Registry of Deeds indicating there has been a change in the ownership of the foreclosed property.

Customers use The Warren Group to identify new business opportunities through access to comprehensive real estate and mortgage data, analytics, industry news coverage, networking, and education opportunities. Based in Boston, the company was established in 1872 and is now in its fourth generation of family ownership and management. It is publisher of Banker & Tradesman, The Commercial Record and Registry Review and architect behind some of the leading events and conferences for banking, legal, and real estate professionals in all of New England. For more information visit www.thewarrengroup.com.