Irvine, CA, United States (AHN) – U.S. banks fast tracked their foreclosure process after almost 12 months of delay, resulting in home foreclosures in the country going up 33 percent in August.

A report from RealtyTrac released on Wednesday said that first-time default notices were filed on 78,880 properties, which is the highest in nine months. Including auction and home-seizure notice, total foreclosure filings grew 7 percent from a four-year low in July to 228,098.

James Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac, said in a statement, “The big increase in new foreclosure actions may be a signal that lenders are starting to push through some of the foreclosures delayed by robo-signing and other documentation problems.”

He added, “It also foreshadows more bank repossessions in the coming months as these new foreclosures make their way through the process.”

RealtyTrac Senior Vice President Rick Sharga said because of the artificially low rate of foreclosure filings which went down for the 11th consecutive month, the housing industry’s restart could break the logjam of foreclosure proceedings.

However, total filings for August went down also by 33 percent compared to a year ago. In the same month default notices dipped 18 percent and scheduled auctions went down 43 percent.

Banks seized 64,813 properties last month, which went down 4 percent compared to July property seizures.

By state, default notices grew in California by 55 percent, in Indiana 46 percent and in New Jersey 42 percent. By foreclosure rate, Nevada topped the list since one in 118 households got a filing. Next was California (one in 226), followed by Arizona (one in 248) and Georgia, Idaho, Michigan, Florida, Illinois, Colorado and Utah.

View full post on Construction And Property Stories