Foreclosure boom in 2012?

In 2012, banks may seize more than 1 million U.S. homes this year after legal scrutiny of their foreclosure practices slowed actions against delinquent property owners in 2011, said RealtyTrac Inc. and reported by Bloomberg.

About 1.89 million properties received notices of default, auction or repossession last year, down 34 percent from 2010 and the lowest number since 2007, the Irvine, Calif.-based data seller said in a statement. One in 69 U.S. households received a filing.

The number of home repossessions is likely to rise about 25 percent from the more than 804,000 properties seized last year as lenders resume foreclosure actions, Daren Blomquist, a spokesman for RealtyTrac, said in a telephone interview with Bloomberg.

About 400,000 additional homes would have been repossessed without the slowdown, Blomquist said.

Foreclosure filings totaled almost 2.7 million last year as some properties got multiple notices, RealtyTrac said.

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