January foreclosures filings up in New York City

City officials say a backlog of cases was to blame for the sizable jump in foreclosures

Foreclosure filings in the U.S. dropped 18 percent in January compared to the same period the previous year. But New York City isn’t following the trend.

The city saw 1,255 foreclosures in January, up 15% from January 2013. That’s also a 12% bump up from the number of foreclosures in December.

RealtyTrac, which compiled the data, noted that January 2013 marked the 40th straight month that foreclosure activity nationally dropped compared to the same month the previous year.

Sign Up for the undefined Newsletter

By signing up, you agree to TheRealDeal Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy.

In New York, Brooklyn had the most foreclosures of any borough at 423 — an 11 percent increase compared with last year, the New York Daily News reported. But Queens registered the most dramatic rise in foreclosure filings, jumping 27 percent.

New York did fare better than Florida, which had the highest rate of foreclosures.

City officials attribute the increase in activity to a backlog of cases that are now being processed, a claim backed up by an increase in foreclosure auctions, the next step in the procedure. [WSJ] and [NYDN]– Angela Hunt