Foreclosure Filings Set Record in 3Q

U.S. foreclosure filings climbed to a record in the third quarter as lenders seized more properties from delinquent borrowers, according to RealtyTrac Inc.

A total of 937,840 homes received a default or auction notice or were repossessed by banks, a 23% increase from a year earlier, the default-data seller said Thursday. One out of every 136 U.S. households received a filing, the highest quarterly rate in records dating to January 2005.

The Irvine, Calif.,. company reported that 343,638 properties received foreclosure filings in September alone, the third-highest monthly total behind July and August of this year. The September number fell 4% from the previous month, though it climbed 29% from a year earlier.

Bank seizures rose 21% from the previous quarter and increased in every state except two and the District of Columbia, RealtyTrac said.

Nevada had the highest foreclosure rate: one in every 23 households, or almost six times the national average. A total of 47,925 Nevada homes got filings, up 10% from the previous quarter and 59% from a year earlier, RealtyTrac said.

In both Arizona and California, one in 53 households received filings. They were followed by Florida, at one in 56, and Idaho, at one in 97. Utah, Georgia, Michigan, Colorado and Illinois rounded out the top 10 in highest rates.

New Jersey had the 15th-highest rate. Connecticut was 25th and New York 39th.

Six states accounted for more than 60% of filings in the U.S., led by California's 250,054. Filings in the most populous state rose 19% from the third quarter of 2008. Bank seizures jumped 12% from the previous quarter.

Florida had the next-highest total, with 156,924 filings, up 23% from a year earlier.

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