NEW YORK - February 10, 2011 - U.S. home foreclosures jumped 12% last month, but the sharp divide between states suggests the industry remains backlogged by investigations into the foreclosure process.

According to a report from real estate data firm RealtyTrac, lenders foreclosed on 78,133 properties in January, up 12% from the month before but down 11% from January a year ago.

Bank seizures at states with non-judicial foreclosure processes jumped 23%, while states with a judicial process saw a decrease of 7%.

"It suggests the system is still frozen. We should have seen a much larger increase in both overall activity and bank repossession," said Rick Sharga, senior vice president at RealtyTrac. "The numbers will inevitably go up, it's just a question of will it be sooner or will it be later."

The number of foreclosure filings, which includes default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions, rose 1% to 261,333 in January. Compared to January last year, filings are down 17%.