LOS ANGELES, Kalifornia - November 10, 2011 - More U.S. homes entered the foreclosure process in October than in the previous month, with Florida, Pennsylvania and Indiana registering among the largest monthly increases, new data show.

Some 77,733 properties received an initial default notice last month, up 10% from September, according to foreclosure listing firm RealtyTrac, Inc.

The number of homes scheduled to be auctioned or repossessed by lenders also posted monthly increases. All told, notices of default, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions - warnings that can eventually lead to a home being lost to foreclosure - hit a seven-month high in October.

The numbers are further evidence foreclosure activity is increasing. The activity slowed a year ago after problems surfaced with the way many lenders were handling foreclosure documentation, namely shoddy mortgage paperwork comprising several shortcuts known collectively as robo-signing. Many of the nation's largest banks reacted by temporarily ceasing all foreclosures, re-filing previously filed foreclosure cases, and revisiting pending cases to prevent errors.

But banks appear to be moving past those problems now and starting to tackle a swelling backlog of homes with mortgages that have gone unpaid - something that lenders are seeing more of as the economy struggles and unemployment remains high.