Foreclosure filings down in Virginia for month, year

The number of homeowners on the brink of losing their homes dipped in October, the third straight monthly decline, as foreclosure-prevention programs helped more borrowers.

Foreclosure filings in Virginia fell 16 percent from a year ago, RealtyTrac Inc. said today. Also, the filings were down 4.7 percent from September. Those declines could indicate that the problem in the state may be easing.

In Virginia, 5,484 households, or one in every 597 homes, were in some stage of foreclosure activity in October, according to RealtyTrac.

The state was ranked with 19th-highest foreclosure rate in the country.

But foreclosure filings nationwide are still up 19 percent from a year ago, RealtyTrac said, and rising job losses continue to threaten the stabilizing trend.

More than 332,000 households across the U.S., or one in every 385 homes, received a foreclosure-related notice in October, such as a notice of default or trustee’s sale. That’s down 3 percent from September.

Banks repossessed more than 77,000 homes last month, down from nearly 88,000 homes in September.

New state programs, such as one launched in Nevada in July, that require mediation before banks can seize a property have helped stem foreclosure activity, said Rick Sharga, senior vice president at RealtyTrac.

Also, anecdotally, lenders are delaying foreclosure as they evaluate which borrowers might qualify for the federal loan-modification program, he said.

Despite Nevada’s legislative efforts to slow foreclosures, the state still clocked in with the nation’s highest foreclosure rate for the 34th month in a row, followed by California, Florida, Arizona and Idaho. Rounding out the top 10 were Illinois, Michigan, Georgia, Maryland and Utah.