North Carolina has been making headlines.  Why?  Because in October 2010, the state’s residential foreclosure rate increased 40 percent from last year’s figure and 13 percent from September 2010’s figure.  According to the Irvine, CA based company Realty Trac Inc., which keeps tabs on default notices, auction sale notices, and bank repossessions, in October 2010, 4,818 North Carolina homes were involved in the foreclosure process.  This translates to one out of every 872 North Carolina households in foreclosure.

In comparison to other states, North Carolina ranks 31^st in rate of foreclosure filings.  Ranked no. 1 is Nevada, followed by Arizona and Florida.   Vermont has the lowest foreclosure rate in the nation.

Yet despite recent foreclosure increases seen in states like North Carolina, in October 2010, foreclosures nationwide decreased by .04 percent from last year’s rate and 4.4 percent from September 2010’s rate.  The numbers suggest that in October 2010, one out of every 389 U.S. households received a foreclosure filing.  But even with this supposed decrease, October 2010 marks the 20^th consecutive month where more than 300,000 U.S. homeowners received a foreclosure notice, says Realty Trac.

The issue of foreclosure is not limited to the residential market.  Commercial foreclosures are up as well.  Our experience seems to indicate that there are more commercial loan agreements which are nearing default and possible foreclosure than in the last year.

If you have questions pertaining to this area of law, please feel free to contact us.