Mortgage documentation problems push foreclosures down

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Updated: June 13, 2011 1:54PM

The number of homes hit with foreclosure filings in the Chicago metropolitan area fell 12.9 percent in April from March and dropped 46.2 percent from April 2010 due to lingering delays from foreclosure documentation problems, a RealtyTrac report released Thursday shows.

There were foreclosures filed on 9,433 homes in the Chicago area last month, down from 10,821 in March and down from 17,532 in April 2010.

In Cook County, the number of homes receiving filings fell 18.4 percent in April to 5,241 from March and dropped 43.6 percent from April 2010.

Statewide, the number of homes receiving filings fell 16.6 percent last month to 10,055 from March. The number sank 46.7 percent from April 2010.

Nationally, 219,258 homes received filings last month, down 8.6 percent from March and down 34.3 percent from April 2010. It was the seventh straight month of year-over-year declines and brought foreclosure activity to a 40-month low, RealtyTrac spokesman Daren Blomquist said. The declines in Illinois and nationally don’t signal a market recovery, he said, noting, “We really think the driving force is still delays in processing foreclosures that have been caused by the bringing to light of some of the sloppy practices of the lenders. The lenders in a lot of cases are having to go back and refile foreclosures they already had started.”

The average foreclosure process time nationally for foreclosures completed in the first quarter was 400 days, up from 340 days in the first quarter of 2010, RealtyTrac said. In Illinois, the average time was 494 days, up from 450 days in the in the first quarter of 2010.

Among states, Illinois had the sixth highest number of homes receiving filings with 10,055. Illinois had the 12th highest foreclosure rate with filings on one in every 526 homes.

California had the highest number of homes receiving filings with 55,869.

Nevada posted the highest state foreclosure rate for the 52nd straight month with one in every 97 homes receiving filings.