LI foreclosure-related figures fall in 3rd quarter

Long Island's foreclosure-related filings for the third quarter fell at a faster rate than the national average compared to the same period last year, according to a listing service.

A total of 3,213 filings -- which includes bank repossessions, first legal notices and auction notices -- represents a decrease of 30.1 percent in Nassau and a drop of 20.6 percent in Suffolk, said RealtyTrac, an online market of foreclosures based in Irvine, Calif.

While the number of initial filings for the third quarter on Long Island fell by 29.6 percent to 2,692, bank repossessions shot up by 59.7 percent to 297 compared to the same period in 2009.

Lenders repossessed 20 homes in Nassau and 277 in Suffolk in the third quarter, compared to 135 houses in Nassau and 51 in Suffolk for the same period last year, RealtyTrac said.

Nationally, third-quarter filings slid nearly 1 percent from a year ago. However, they rose nearly 4 percent from the previous quarter.

James J. Saccacio, RealtyTrac's chief executive, said lenders nationwide have been going through a backlog of homes for which foreclosure-prevention efforts had delayed the process, foreclosing on a record number of properties in September and in the third quarter.

For the fourth quarter, he said he expected to see a dip in activity "as several major lenders have halted foreclosure sales . . . while they review irregularities in foreclosure-processing documentation."

Peter J. Goodman, a Melville-based real estate attorney, said part of the reason for the reduction in initial legal notices here was likely because lenders such as Bank of America Corp. and Ally Financial Inc.'s GMAC Mortgage unit suspended foreclosures to review their notification processes. He added that most of the foreclosures stemming from the financial crisis are "either being worked on through modifications or have already been filed. The first wave of foreclosures is slowly starting to peter out a little bit."

But Goodman said that beginning now and next year, many option adjustable rate mortgage loans will mature, forcing others to default. "I would not be surprised if they go back up in the coming year, considering there are still a lot of option ARMs out there. When the interest rates change and the homeowners have to start making payment at a much higher rate," he said, "there may be another wave" of foreclosures.

Gale Berg, who oversees of pro-bono attorney services for the Nassau County Bar Association's mortgage foreclosure program, said, "I haven't seen a decrease in the amount of foreclosures. There's an increase in the number of people coming to ask us to represent them."