“Foreclosures in Massachusetts kept climbing in September as 890 homeowners lost their properties, a 26.6 percent increase compared with the same month last year, according to data released yesterday by Warren Group, a Boston company that tracks local real estate. So far this year, 10,777 properties have been foreclosed on statewide, a 58.6 percent increase from the 6,796 recorded during the same period last year and more than all the foreclosures recorded in 2009, Warren Group said. The numbers come amid growing concern that some major national lenders have been improperly conducting foreclosures in an effort to speed up the process and evict delinquent owners. Attorneys general from across the country recently said they are examining foreclosure practices, and the US Senate has scheduled a hearing next month on how foreclosures are conducted. At the same time, economists, community officials, and housing advocates worry that the high number of foreclosed properties in particular markets is affecting not only individual families but entire neighborhoods. Parag Pathak, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology economist, said a foreclosure can make it difficult for other homeowners to sell their properties, leading to even more homes being seized.”
By Jennifer McKim