Massachusetts Foreclosure Petitions, Deeds Decline Again

The number of completed foreclosures in Massachusetts through February 2013 are down about two thirds compared to 2012, The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman, reported April 2, 2013. 

In February, 240 foreclosure deeds – the final step of the foreclosure process – were filed in Massachusetts, down almost 69 percent from 767 foreclosure deeds filed in February 2012. The recording of a foreclosure deed represents a completed foreclosure. Through February, foreclosure deeds have plunged 66 percent. A total of 532 foreclosure deeds were filed in January and February compared to 1,566 during the same two months in 2012.

Foreclosure petitions – the first step in the foreclosure process in Massachusetts – decreased more than 38 percent in February. There were 856 petitions, down from 1,394 in February 2012. Including January and February, there were 1,796 petitions filed, down 34 percent from 2,727 during the same period last year.

February was the fourth consecutive month of less than 1,000 foreclosure petitions. Not all foreclosure petitions result in a completed foreclosure. 

The Warren Group also tracked a decrease in auction announcements in February. A total of 330 auctions were announced in February, a 76 percent decline from the 1,384 auction announcements in February 2012. Through February, auction announcements are down 77 percent, from 2,960 last January and February to 669 in 2013.