However in Warren County last month, foreclosure filings were made against 176 properties, compared with 222 in December, a decrease of 20.72 percent, according to RealtyTrac.
RealtyTrac, an Irvine, Calif.-based firm that tracks filings made in various steps of the foreclosure process — default notice, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions — put out its latest report today for January. The U.S. had a total 261,333 properties with foreclosure fillings in January, up more than one percent from December and down 17.23 percent from January of last year.
“We’ve now seen three straight months with fewer than 300,000 properties receiving foreclosure filings, following 20 straight months where the total exceeded 300,000,” said James Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac, in a news release. “Unfortunately this is less a sign of a robust housing recovery and more a sign that lenders have become bogged down in reviewing procedures, resubmitting paperwork and formulating legal arguments related to accusations of improper foreclosure processing.”
Compared to January last year, the number of foreclosure filings is up 6.97 percent in Butler County. In Warren County, it decreased 10.66 percent year-over-year.
Still, the 20 percent increase in Butler County from December to January follows a 50.47 percent drop off from November to December, according to RealtyTrac. Filings increased 22.65 percent from November to December in Warren County.
Don Gardner, homeownership/default intervention counselor for Neighborhood Housing Services of Hamilton, gave his take on the Butler County figures: “In all the years I’ve counseled people in delinquent or default status with their lender, December has been my easiest month. And then I can expect an onslaught in phone calls from people needing help after the first of the year,” he said.
Contact this reporter at (513) 705-2551 or clevingston@coxohio.com.
About the Author