Mortgage servicers started more foreclosures in May than a year ago, the first year-over-year increase since early 2011, according to Lender Processing Services (LPS) data.
Foreclosure starts increased 2.8% from May 2011 and climbed 11.6% from April 2012.
Data from RealtyTrac released last month showed a similar rise in foreclosure starts.
The numbers show the foreclosure process rebooting two months after state attorneys general and the five largest servicers struck a $25 billion settlement in March over past foreclosure abuses.
Still, a backlog remains. Roughly 7.32% of all mortgages tracked by LPS are either in serious delinquency or somewhere in the foreclosure process. The percentage has been on the decline since hitting 7.69% at the beginning of the year.
Some markets showed signs of continued elevated inventory in May, mostly judicial states where the amount of loans in serious delinquency or foreclosure dipped only 0.8%. That compares to a 7.1% decline in judicial states.
In Florida, a judicial state, 13.7% of all loans were in the foreclosure process in May, nearly triple the national average and almost double the next closest state, New Jersey, where 7.6% of home loans are in foreclosure.
