BOSTON, Aug. 4, 2015 – Mass. foreclosure petitions rose in June, posting an 81 percent increase compared with June 2014, according to a new report from The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman. This marked the 16th consecutive month of increases in petition filings.

Lenders filed 886 petitions to foreclose in June compared with 488 filings during the same month last year. A total of 5,316 petitions were filed in the first half of the year compared with 3,264 petitions filed during the same timeframe in 2014. That’s a 62.9 percent increase. Petitions mark the first step in the foreclosure process.

“The increases in foreclosure starts that we have been seeing steadily for months now are likely to continue through the second half of the year,” said Tim Warren, CEO of The Warren Group. “Some lenders had let a lot of delinquent mortgages accumulate in the pipeline over the past few years. Now that the market has improved and buyers are eager for affordable homes to purchase, the backlog is getting pushed through the system.”

Statewide, foreclosure deeds reported a 34 percent increase in June with 411 deeds filed compared with 305 filings in June 2014. A total of 2,034 deeds were filed January through June of this year, a 21 percent increase from the 1,679 deeds filed in the same timeframe last year. Deeds represent completed foreclosures.

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