Judicial foreclosures jump in December | Chappaqua Real Estate

Judicial foreclosures jumped in December, according to Eugene-based Gorilla Capital. The Associated Press

Court-supervised foreclosures — the alternative to the out-of-court system lenders have favored for decades — jumped in December, a reseller of foreclosed homes reported.

Lenders filed 681 judicial foreclosures in 24 Oregon counties where Gorilla Capital operates. The Eugene company buys, redevelops and sells foreclosed homes.

November saw 446 judicial foreclosures, a decline from 522 in October.

The number of judicial foreclosures has climbed over the past year as regulation and legal trouble for lenders complicated the nonjudicial foreclosure process. Nonjudicial foreclosure activity dropped to almost nothing in July, when a court ruling and a new state foreclosure mediation program simultaneously changed legal requirements to foreclose outside the court system.

Still, judicial foreclosure activity trails the nonjudicial foreclosure activity seen a year ago.

The Oregon Supreme Court and the Oregon Legislature may both make decisions in coming months that could shift foreclosures back to the nonjudicial process, which banks prefer because it is speedier and cheaper.