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IRVINE, CA—Residential foreclosure activity rose 10% in L.A. from a year ago, and San Diego bank REOs rose 40% since the beginning of the year, according to report from RealtyTrac. While overall US foreclosure activity is down 16% from a year ago, Southern California is going against that trend.

As GlobeSt.com reported last week, US residential foreclosure filings increased 2% in July from the previous month, but are still down 16% from a year ago, according to the report. Foreclosure filings were reported on 109,434 US properties in July, and one in every 1,203 US housing units had a foreclosure filing during the month, the firm reports.

The findings essentially erase the foreclosure gains seen in June. As GlobeSt.com reported last month, total US residential foreclosure activity decreased during the month of June by 2% from the previous month and was down 16% from a year ago to the lowest level since July 2006, according to a report from RealtyTrac. US properties with foreclosure filings in the first half of 2014 decreased 19% from the previous six months and 23% from the first half of 2013.

Regarding the Southern California spikes in foreclosure activity and REOs, Daren Blomquist, VP of RealtyTrac, tells GlobeSt.com, “This surge in bank repossessions in Southern California is the result of banks being somewhat gun shy to foreclose last year in the wake of the Homeowners Bill of Rights that became law in the state in January 2013. That law empowered homeowners to sue lenders for damages in the case of an improperly foreclosed home. The increase in bank repossessions over the last few months in San Diego, Los Angeles, Orange County and the Inland Empire indicates that the banks, at least to a certain extent, have adjusted to the law and are more confident that the foreclosures they are pushing through are solid and will hold up against any dispute.”

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