More depressing news for Southern California homeowners. Banks in November scheduled more than 26,000 homes to be sold at California foreclosure auctions, a 63% increase from October. Los Angeles County and San Bernadino County each saw dramatic jumps in foreclosures. In San Bernardino County, foreclosure filings jumped nearly 30 percent from October to November. Los Angeles County’s foreclosure activity jumped 15 percent. November also saw the number of San Bernardino filings for notices of trustee sales increase 80 percent to affect 2,253 homes.
California cities accounted for nine of the 10 metro areas with the highest foreclosure rates. Las Vegas was the only city outside of California in the top 10, coming in at No. 6. Stockton posted the nation’s highest foreclosure rate for the second month in a row, followed by Modesto and Fresno.
The uptick in California filings was driven by the auction notices. When such a notice is filed at a county recorder’s office, a home can be sold within 21 days.
“November’s numbers suggest a new set of incoming foreclosure waves, many of which may roll into the market as [foreclosures] or short sales sometime early next year,” said James Saccacio, co-founder and chief executive of RealtyTrac.
If you’ve been behind on your payments or fighting with your bank to get a loan modification, then chances are you might be receiving a sales date. Before this happens give us a call and we can help explore your options. If you do receive a sales date then it’s still not to late. We have a number of ways to halt a foreclosure sale and keep you in your home. The main thing is not to pretend that your house wont be auctioned off. These numbers seemed to suggest that the banks are ramping up their foreclosures.