by Barbara Nevins Taylor

It’s a good news bad news picture for homeowners in trouble.  On the plus side, 25 percent fewer property owners filed foreclosure papers in February than in February 2012, according to RealtyTrac. But the real estate reporting company says one in every 849 U.S. housing units had a foreclosure filing in February.

Foreclosures were up in New York and New Jersey, and Florida, Nevada and Illinois had the highest foreclosure rates in the nation. Miami, Orlando, Ocala, Tampa and Palm Bay Florida cities were the metro areas with the most foreclosures.

However, Darren Blomquist of RealtyTrac projects, “…the U.S. foreclosure inferno has effectively been contained and should be reduced to a slow burn in the next two years.

If you’re a homeowner in trouble, What to Do About Foreclosure on ConsumerMojo.com can help.

And if you’re in the market for foreclosures or short sales How Do I Find Foreclosures has great information.

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