Over 100,000 US Homes Repossessed in September

According to RealtyTrac, more than 100,000 U.S. homes were seized by lenders in September, a record number. This is before the major banks were forced to halt repossessions and foreclosures. Lenders took over 102,134 properties last month. That was the highest monthly tally since the company began tracking the data in 2005, surpassing the August record of 95,364. Foreclosure filings, including default and auction notices, rose 3 percent from the prior month to 347,420. One out of every 371 households received a notice. Foreclosure filings totaled 930,437 in the third quarter, a 4-percent rise from the previous three months and a 1-percent decline from the same period of 2009, according to RealtyTrac.

Lenders seized a record 288,345 properties in the period, up 22 percent from a year earlier. Filings in the states most affected by court reviews of foreclosure documents accounted for 40 percent of the total in the third quarter, RealtyTrac said. Those states had 36 percent of repossessions. In September, foreclosure sales in those states made up 32 percent of all U.S. distressed transactions, based on preliminary RealtyTrac data. Nationwide, sales of homes in default or foreclosure accounted for 31 percent of all transactions last month. Bank-owned properties made up 18 percent of sales, RealtyTrac said.