Foreclosures rise, total of people assisted falls

12/29/2010

WASHINGTON — Home foreclosures rose over the summer after fewer people at risk got assistance lowering monthly mortgage payments, a report says.

About 470,000 homeowners received help either directly from banks or through government programs in the July-September quarter, according to a report released Wednesday by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Office of Thrift Supervision.

That is a 17 percent drop from the previous quarter and a decline of 32 percent from the same period last year.

Meanwhile, completed foreclosures rose to nearly 245,000 in the third quarter, up 11.2f percent from the previous three months, the report said. The report covers the 64 percent of mortgages held by national banks and thrifts.