Foreclosure Map: Cook County Takeaways Fall

Foreclosure court filings fell in February, both in Cook County and nationwide.

Lenders initiated 317 Cook County foreclosure cases in February, down by three from January — but still up from 265 in December.

The total mortgaged value behind last month’s new foreclosure efforts totaled over $119 million, a drop from the previous months when January totaled $174 million, December $144 million and November’s $237 million.

Here’s where foreclosure court cases began in January:

Leaflet map created by Adam Farence | Data by © OpenStreetMap, under ODbl.

Last month’s median mortgage amount subject to foreclosure was $166,822, almost $30,000 less than January’s median amount at $192,250. For comparison, December’s median amount was $170,100 and November’s $180,000.

The borrower facing the biggest foreclosure case started last month is LaSalle Towers Prop LLC, for a $26 million debt for the multifamily property at 1211 North La Salle Street. The entity is linked to Strategic Properties of North America, a major condo deconversion buyer. CoreVest is the lender.

U.S. Bank, once again, filed the most foreclosure lawsuits in Cook County last month — 35. That’s down from January, when U.S. Bank filed 48. Newrez LLC — sometimes called Shellpoint Mortgaging — filed 27.

U.S. Bank and Newrez frequently muscle each other out for the most foreclosure filings in any given month.

Nationally, foreclosure filings were down 1 percent from January, but up 8 percent from the same time last year, according to Irvine, California-based real estate data firm ATTOM. Out of 224 metropolitan areas with a population of at least 200,000, Chicago saw the greatest number of completed foreclosures at 207, followed by Philadelphia at 182 and New York City at 173, according to the report.