Wells Fargo No. 1 for U.S. commercial foreclosures in 4Q

Wells Fargo led the nation in commercial property foreclosures in the fourth quarter of 2012, while Bank of America was No. 1 in the South, according to data released this week by Irvine, Calif.-based CoreLogic.

San Francisco-based Wells, which operates its East Coast headquarters in Charlotte, was the top U.S. foreclosure plaintiff, with foreclosure action taken on 661 properties. That was followed by JPMorgan Chase, with 432, and Bank of America, with 370.

In the South, though, Bank of America was in first place. The Charlotte-based bank took foreclosure action against 234 properties, followed by Wells Fargo at No. 2 with 215.

Nationwide, the number of distressed commercial properties is at the lowest it's been since January 2008, according to CoreLogic findings on 10 major U.S. markets, excluding Charlotte. In those markets, there were roughly 1,700 distressed properties in January, down from a peak of about 4,300 in March 2009.

Across the South in April, an estimated 3,002 commercial properties face maturing mortgages that will need to be refinanced or sold, more than any other U.S. region, the report said. In U.S. rankings of types of properties facing maturing mortgages in April, the Charlotte area is No. 3 in the industrial category, with  $44.4 million in loans coming due. The New York and northern New Jersey area, with $79.9 million in loans, was No. 1 in the industrial category.

To read the national report for April, click here. For the Southern report, click here.