LAKE COUNTY – While foreclosure activity appears to be decreasing around the United States in recent months, the number of people in danger of losing their homes in Lake County is growing.

The most recent reports from Irvine-based RealtyTrac show that in January foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions — were reported on 315,716 U.S. properties, a decrease of nearly 10 percent from the previous month but still 15 percent above the level reported in January 2009.

RealtyTrac reported that one in every 409 U.S. housing units received a foreclosure filing in January.

In Lake County, total foreclosure filings in January numbered 303, up 55 percent from the 195 filings reported in December 2009 and up 124 percent from the 135 filings in January 2009, the company reported.

The county's foreclosure statistics for the fourth quarter of 2009 show 476 total filings, down slightly from the third quarter of 2009, when 666 such filings were made, records show. The fourth quarter of 2008 had 393 total foreclosure filings in Lake County.

Nationwide, the January foreclosure numbers are holding to a similar pattern from a year ago, according to James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac, who noted a double-digit percentage jump in December foreclosure activity followed by a 10 percent drop in January.

“If history repeats itself we will see a surge in the numbers over the next few months as lenders foreclose on delinquent loans where neither the existing loan modification programs or the new short sale and deed-in-lieu of foreclosure alternatives works,” he said in a written statement.

RealtyTrac reported that REOs, or bank foreclosures, were down 5 percent nationwide in January from the previous month, although they were 31 percent higher than January 2009 numbers.

REOs in Lake County numbered 101 in January, 83 in December 2009 and 39 in January 2009, based on RealtyTrace statistics.

January default notices were down 12 percent nationwide from the previous month but still up 4 percent from January 2009, and scheduled foreclosure auctions were down 11 percent from the previous month but still up 15 percent from January 2009.

Lake County's January default notices totaled 107, compared to 47 in December, and 69 in January 2009, the company reported.

The county's number of notices of trustee sales rose to 95 in January, up from 65 the previous month. They numbered 27 in January 2009.

Across California, in January foreclosure activity decreased by double-digit percentages from December, the company reported.

California, Florida and Arizona posted the three highest state totals in terms of properties receiving foreclosure filings in January. RealtyTrac's report showed that together those three states accounted for more than 44 percent of the national total.

Six California cities registered foreclosure rates among the top 10 cities nationwide, according to the report: Modesto, No. 3; Stockton, No. 4; Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, No. 5; Merced, No. 6; Vallejo-Fairfield, No. 7; and Bakersfield, No. 8.

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