Foreclosures up 6 percent in February

by Frank James

Foreclosures rose six percent in February from January with some kind of foreclosure notice filed on 290,631 U.S. properties, according to RealtyTrac.

The increase was unexpected because of agreements financial institutions had made to hold off on foreclosures during the month.

One problem federal policymakers are aware of is that some elements in the financial industry, such as mortgage servicers, stand to make to more money by forcing delinquent homeowners into foreclosure proceedings. This may partly explain the rising numbers.

An excerpt from RealtyTrac.

"The increase in foreclosure activity from January to February is somewhat surprising, given that many of the foreclosure prevention efforts and moratoria in place in January were extended through most of February as well," said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. "There were some notable exceptions to this: a 45-day voluntary moratorium in Florida expired at the end of January, and foreclosure activity there was up 14 percent from the previous month; and many New York foreclosure proceedings delayed by a new law for an extra 90 days appear to have hit the system in February, when the state's foreclosure activity increased 23 percent from the previous month."