Foreclosure filings in Westchester County by mortgage lenders and servicers rose nearly 49 percent in 2013 from the previous year and court judgments against defaulting homeowners rose 77 percent last year from 2012, as banks began clearing a backlog of sold and resold mortgage loans dating from the housing market boom.
The Westchester County Clerk”™s office reported 2,694 foreclosure actions started in 2012, up from 1,813 in 2012. The lenders”™ filings last year were the highest since 2009, when 3,123 foreclosure actions were started in the Great Recession.
The 369 foreclosure judgments entered in the state Supreme Court in Westchester County last year were the highest in three years, but well below the numbers of defaulting homeowners who lost their homes to lenders from 2006 to 2010, according to county clerk records. Foreclosure judgments in the county peaked at 1,034 in 2008.
Attorneys and real estate brokers have said they expect the surge in filings to continue in 2014 and that it could be another two to three years before the backlog of mortgage loans in default is cleared.
Westchester County Clerk Timothy C. Idoni noted that stricter mortgage financing rules take effect this month “which will no doubt curb foreclosures down the road. But it is hard to predict the immediate impact these rules will have on the Westchester housing market and the current foreclosure burden.”
