More Homes Are Getting Foreclosed in Long Island

In April, the number of homes getting foreclosed in Long Island rose by 28.7 percent compared to foreclosure filings in March, according to California-based foreclosure monitoring firm RealtyTrac.

The filings included default notices, sales notices, foreclosed properties and bank repossessions. The increase was 17 percent when compared to foreclosure filings in April 2008.

Compared to Suffolk, Nassau had more increases in foreclosure filings, with 537 newly started foreclosure cases. In the state of New York, it can take around two years to finish a foreclosure case.

Nassau’s new foreclosure filings in April increased, compared to the 440 new filings in March and the 398 new filings in April 2008. Also, Nassau had 93 foreclosed homes in April, an increase from the 42 foreclosed units in April 2008 and seven foreclosed homes in March this year.

Similarly, Suffolk had 700 new foreclosure cases in April, an increase from the 619 filings in the previous month of March and from the 632 filings in April 2008. There were four units that actually became foreclosed homes, a decrease compared to the 71 units in April 2008 and to the five units in March this year.

Meanwhile, the national foreclosure rate of one housing unit in every 374 houses in April was the highest rate since 2005, the year RealtyTrac started monitoring foreclosures.

According to RealtyTrac, there were 342,038 homes which were hit with foreclosure filings in April. Nicolas Retsinas, head of housing research at Harvard University, said the continuing foreclosures are the inevitable results of record job losses.

RealtyTrac’s report showed that Nassau foreclosure filings climbed by 42 percent while the actual number of foreclosed units in Suffolk declined. According to some analysts, RealtyTrac sometimes includes late foreclosure filings and sometimes reflects delays in record keeping.

In 2008, New York was one of many states that implemented foreclosure moratoriums, requiring mortgage lenders to give a 90-day notice to borrowers before filing a foreclosure case. These moratoriums pushed down foreclosure counts last year, but are now pushing up numbers of foreclosed homes.

Connie Lassandro, chief of Nassau’s homeless and housing services, said one indication of the worsening problem of foreclosed homes is the growing demand for foreclosure counseling sessions. She said her unit held only several sessions last year because people were thinking the foreclosure crisis was nearing its end. Lassandro said her unit has been conducting foreclosure prevention sessions two or three times a week.

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