La. foreclosure activity drops in October

Foreclosure actions aimed at Louisiana homeowners dropped a bit from September to October, although the count was nearly 50 percent higher than a year ago, a national tracking company reported Thursday.

Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac said that in October, there were 1,897 foreclosure-related actions. Those ranged from initial notice of default to outright lender repossession. That count was down 6 percent from September, but up 48.9 percent from October 2009.

Last month, the owners of 1,142 properties received a sale notice, while 424 properties were taken back. One in every 993 Louisiana housing units received a foreclosure-related notice, ranking the state 35th.

RealtyTrac said lenders foreclosed on 93,326 U.S. properties in October, down 9 percent from the record high set in September, but still up 21 percent from October 2009.

RealtyTrac CEO James Saccacio said the October number likely dropped because some lenders have stopped foreclosure proceedings over questions about the legality of some paperwork. Otherwise, the crisis continues relatively unabated, he said.

“October marks the 20th consecutive month where over 300,000 U.S. homeowners received a foreclosure notice,” Saccaciao said.

Nevada continued to have the highest foreclosure rate in October, with one in every 79 housing units receiving a foreclosure-related notice during the month. That was followed by Florida, Arizona, California, Michigan, Utah, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois and Colorado.