Foreclosure petitions rise in March

Foreclosure petitions in Massachusetts continued to climb in March, posting a 68 percent increase compared with March 2014, according to a new report from The Warren Group. It was the 13th straight month of year-over-year increases in petition filings.

Petitions mark the first step in the foreclosure process.

Lenders filed 1,108 petitions to foreclose in March, compared with 660 filings during this time last year.

March also marked the highest number of petitions filed since October 2012, when 1,458 petitions were recorded.

Also, Tuesday’s statement from The Warren Group said, the first quarter of this year posted a 77.3 percent increase from the first quarter of last year. A total of 2,594 petitions were filed in the first three months of the year compared with 1,463 petitions filed in the first quarter of last year.

"We continue to see rises in every facet of the foreclosure process," Timothy M. Warren Jr., CEO of The Warren Group, said in a statement. "It is frustrating to see the increases month after month. However, it continues to be the result of a large volume of backlog on the part of lenders who continue to track down delinquent mortgages."

Statewide, foreclosure deeds reported a 51 percent increase in March with 359 deeds filed compared with 238 filings in March 2014. The month's filings were the highest of the year so far. A total of 927 deeds were filed in the first quarter of this year, a 3.0 percent decrease from the 956 deeds filed in the first quarter of last year. Deeds represent completed foreclosures.