U.S. foreclosure filings, bank seizures surge
U.S. foreclosure filings climbed 65 per cent and bank seizures more than doubled in April from a year earlier as mortgage industry efforts to modify loans fell short. More than 243,300 properties were in some stage of foreclosure, the highest monthly total since RealtyTrac Inc., a seller of default data, began in January, 2005. One in every 519 households received a filing and Nevada, California and Florida had the highest rates. Filings rose 4 per cent from March. Bank repossessions jumped 145 per cent in April from a year earlier to 54,574, according to Irvine, Calif.-based
RealtyTrac. Banks will seize about 60,000 properties a month through December, when about one million U.S. homes, or a quarter of all homes for sale, may be bank-owned, Rick Sharga, RealtyTrac’s executive vice-president of marketing, said in an interview. Voluntary programs to change loan terms for at-risk borrowers haven’t helped enough people, said Ira Rheingold, executive director of the National Association of Consumer Advocates in Washington.