Foreclosure filings down, judgments up in Westchester

New foreclosure actions in Westchester County continued a 3-year decline in this year”™s first quarter, while the number of court judgments on foreclosed properties continued a rise that began in 2011, according to the Westchester County Clerk”™s office.

The 291 foreclosure judgments entered in state Supreme Court in Westchester County from January through March represented an 8 percent increase from the first quarter of 2015, the clerk”™s office reported.

As a backlog of pending foreclosure classes in the court continued to be cleared, mortgage lenders and servicers initiated fewer foreclosure actions in the last quarter. The 416 foreclosure filings over three months were down from 569 in the first quarter of 2015, a nearly 27 percent decrease. Foreclosure filings in Westchester peaked at 680 in the first quarter of 2013.

“While the number of filings is still higher than preferred, we are encouraged by the steady decline over the past two years,” said Westchester County Clerk Timothy C. Idoni. “Judgments remain high due to older foreclosure filings making it through the court.”