Lenders filed 135,431 mortgage default notices against California homeowners during the first quarter of 2009, real estate information service MDA DataQuick reported yesterday.

That's an all-time high compared against the firm's entire defaults database, which dates back to 1992.

The first quarter numbers are up 80% from 4th quarter 2008 and up 19% from same period last year. The spike in notices is the result of the recession and of lenders playing catch-up after a temporary lull in foreclosure activity, DataQuick said.

"The nastiest batch of California home loans appears to have been made in mid to late 2006 and the foreclosure process is working its way through those," said John Walsh, DataQuick president.

Default notices have risen steadily according to date of origination. Of the 3.7 million California home loans booked in 2004, less than 1% have since resulted in a lender filing a default notice.

However, 4.9% of 2005 California mortgage loans triggered default notices, and 8.5% of 2006′s mortgages have resulted in default. A particularly toxic period was August through November 2006, with a default rate above 9%.

Of the 2.1 million loans made in 2007, 4.6% have defaulted; DataQuick predicted that number will rise significantly in coming months.

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