Foreclosure filings in North Carolina were down 23 percent through the first 10 months of the year, a welcome sign given that many predicted filings to spike this year after the controversy over foreclosure documentation.

There were 46,228 total filings in the state for the ten months ending Oct. 31, according to the N.C. Administrative Office of the Courts.

Filings were also down 21 percent in the Triangle counties of Durham, Johnston and Wake. Filings were down 22 percent in Wake, down 18 percent in Durham and 16 percent in Johnston.

Foreclosure filings in North Carolina slowed during the second quarter and are now down 16 percent compared to the first half of last year.

There were 29,371 total filings in the state during the first six months of 2011, according to the N.C. Administrative Office of the Courts.

Filings were also down 14 percent in the Triangle counties of Durham, Johnston, Orange and Wake.

Filings were down 20 percent in Durham and 15 percent in Wake.

Filings mark the start of the foreclosure process. Some homeowners will work out repayment plans. Others will lose their homes.

The foreclosure crisis long ago spread from subprime borrowers to those with traditional mortgages. Although the crisis has not been as severe in the Triangle as elsewhere, it's still been impediment to prices stabilizing.

Foreclosures are expected to continue to be an issue as long as chronically high unemployment continues to cause people to fall behind on their mortgages.

Many analysts have been bracing for foreclosure activity to pick up as proceedings that were halted late last because of the controversy about foreclosure documentation are restarted.

Thus far that hasn't happened.

Bank of America will more than triple its number of assistance centers for homeowners facing foreclosure, bringing the total to 40 in 22 states, Charlotte Observer staff writer Kirsten Valle Pittman reports.

Beginning this month, the Charlotte-based bank plans to open 28 new centers – including one in Raleigh, the first in North Carolina – in some of the places hit hardest by the recession and lingering mortgage troubles.

Seven new sites are opening in California and three in the Detroit area, among other cities. The centers allow customers to work face to face with loan professionals, who counsel homeowners, help them through the loan modification process and, in some cases, make on-site decisions about customers’ mortgages.

Foreclosure filings in North Carolina increased 8 percent in the first quarter as a sluggish economic recovery continued to hurt the housing market.

The news was better in the Triangle, where filings declined 10 percent.

Filings were flat in Johnston and Orange, but declined 12 percent in Wake and 13 percent in Durham.

Wake led the way with 1,289 filings, while Durham was second with 505.

There were 18,917 total filings in the state during the first three months of 2011, according to the N.C. Administrative Office of the Courts.

Filings mark the start of the foreclosure process. Some homeowners will work out repayment plans. Others will lose their homes.
 

Foreclosure filings increased 41 percent in North Carolina and 25 percent in the Raleigh-Cary area in 2010, according to year-end data from RealtyTrac, a research firm based in Irvine, Calif.

That far outpaced filings for the entire U.S., which increased 2 percent.

There were 40,151 filings in North Carolina and 2.87 million across the entire country.

North Carolina had a foreclosure filing for every 45 homes. In Raleigh-Cary the rate was one for every 82 homes.

Foreclosure filings in North Carolina increased 7 percent in 2010 as the state continued to deal with fallout from the economic downturn and turmoil in the housing market.

There were 67,854 filings in the state over the last 12 months, according to the N.C. Administrative Office of the Courts' year-end report.

In the Triangle, filings declined slightly in Johnston and Durham counties and increased 8 percent in Wake County.

There were 5,584 filings in Wake; 1,172 in Durham; and 1,271 in Johnston.

Filings mark the start of the foreclosure process. Some homeowners will work out repayment plans. Others will lose their homes.

The rise in foreclosure filings is a sign that the problem has spread well beyond subprime borrowers trapped in bad mortgages.

State law enforcement authorities have broken up a scheme to fix bids on foreclosed properties in Durham and Mecklenburg county by a Virginia man claiming to be a lawyer, philanthropist, motivational speaker, Princeton University graduate, model, actor on West Wing and Law and Order (among many other shows) and a championship athlete who holds records in track and field.

The N.C. Attorney General's office has added a few more credentials to Bruce Olvin McBarnette's lengthy resume, to wit: strong-arming local pastors and others to pay cash in exchange for getting McBarnette to back off from bidding on foreclosed properties.

The state AG said today that McBarnette, of Sterling, Va., was fined $47,400 for rigging four auction bids and attempting to rig seven other bids between October 2009 and March 2010.

His victims in Durham included a pastor seeking to buy property for her church, another pastor seeking to buy property for neighborhood revitalization, and a man who was buying a foreclosed home for his mother.

A federally-funded program to help homeowners avoid foreclosure is now available state-wide.

The program, which first launched in October in 17 counties, allows eligible homeowners to receive up to $24,000 or 24 months of mortgage payments while they seek other employment or participate in job training programs.

In high unemployment counties, the maximum assistance is $36,000 or 36 months.

North Carolina was one of five states that received money from a $600 million aid pool designed to prevent foreclosures in states plagued by high unemployment.

North Carolina is spending about $115 million for the initial phase of the new program, which is based on a previous state-funded effort that provides mortgage payment help.

The program is designed to help those who have gotten behind on their mortgage payment through no fault of their own.
 

Foreclosure filings in the Triangle continue to outpace last year's levels through the first ten months of this year.

Filings in Durham, Johnston and Wake counties totaled 7,611 through October, up 12 percent from the same period a year ago, according to the N.C. Administrative Office of the Courts' monthly report.

In Wake, there were 552 filings in October, up 14 percent from a year earlier.

Filings in Wake through the first ten months of the year are 15 percent higher than the same period last year. Durham filings are 9 percent higher through October. Johnston filings are up 2 percent.

Foreclosure filings in the Triangle continue to outpace last year's levels through the first eight months of this year.

Filings in Durham, Johnston and Wake counties totaled 5,901 through the first eight months of 2010, up 14 percent from the same period a year ago, according to the N.C. Administrative Office of the Courts monthly report.

In Wake, there were 560 filings in August, up 20 percent from August 2009. Filings in Wake through the first eight months of the year are 17 percent higher than the same period last year.

Durham filings are 16 percent higher through the first eight months of 2010 compared with the same period last year. Through the first eight months of 2010 Johnston filings are down 3 percent over the previous year.

Foreclosure filings mark the start of the foreclosure process. Some homeowners will work out repayment plans. Others will lose their homes.