New Wave Of Foreclosures Hits SoCal

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Homeowners across Southern California are getting hit with a fresh wave of foreclosures.

KNX 1070's Ed Mertz reports industry analysts say there's been a 30 percent jump in foreclosures from August to September in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties.

As of September, 1 in every 559 homes in San Bernardino County was in foreclosure, while Riverside County had a rate of 1 in every 625, according to real estate data firm RealtyTrac.

Tens of thousands of properties across the Southland that were purchased before 2008 were delayed being foreclosed on due to the California Homeowners Bill of Rights, which was enacted in Jan. 2013, said RealtyTrac vice president Darren Bloomquist.

However, Bloomquist said any foreclosure actions could take some time to complete.

"We're looking at three to four thousand a month," he said. "That could take close to a year to clear that backlog."

Nationally, foreclosure filings — which include default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions — were reported on 317,171 U.S. properties in the third quarter, down 16 percent from a year ago but up 0.42 percent from the previous quarter — the first quarterly increase since the third quarter of 2011, according to RealtyTrac.