Foreclosures up overall in February

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Steve Chiotakis: February was yet another bad month for foreclosures. In a a report out this morning, RealtyTrac says nearly 300,000 homeowners received at least one foreclosure notice last month. That’s a jump of 6 percent from the motnh before. And compared to last year, things look even worse. The latest from Ashley Milne-Tyte.

Ashley Milne-Tyte: The report shows February foreclosures were up 30 percent from last year. And that’s something of a surprise, says Rick Sharga of RealtyTrac:

This month, at least technically speaking, shouldn’t have seen an increase at all. A lot of the major servicers including Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase and Bank of America had imposed moratoria on foreclosure activity through March 6t.

Most foreclosures are still concentrated in the west and in Florida. But they’re rising fast in states like Idaho, Oregon and Illinois. Sharga says that may represent the first wave of unemployment-driven foreclosures.

The Obama administration launched its plan to stem the foreclosure crisis last week. It aims to keep up to 9 million people in their homes through refinancing or loan modification. Bur Sharga says their efforts will probably have only a slight impact on the foreclosure rate.

I’m Ashley Milne-Tyte for Marketplace.