Foreclosure Filings Up in Half of US States

Catching up on backlog

Half of U.S. states saw an annual increase in the number of foreclosure-related filings in 2012, but most of those were judicial foreclosure states where loan servicers were catching up on the backlog from the "robo-signing" controversy, according to a year-end report by data aggregator RealtyTrac.

All told, RealtyTrac reported foreclosure-related filings against 1.84 million U.S. properties in 2012, down 3 percent from 2011 and down 36 percent from a 2010 peak of 2.9 million homes.

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[paydayloans]

The housing market has shown some promising signs of late, but a fresh batch of foreclosure data offers a reminder that any recovery from the housing bust will likely be slow, spotty and painful. The jump in foreclosure activity was likely because lenders are finally getting to a backlog of homes they might have started foreclosing on last year if they weren't facing criticism for cutting corners and pushing foreclosures through too quickly and without adequate controls.