67% More Foreclosures Near Charlotte: 2026 Data by Metro

South Carolina Ranks #2 in the Nation for Foreclosure Filings

In May 2026, South Carolina recorded 1,068 foreclosure filings across 2.4 million housing units. That's a rate of one filing per 2,287 homes, according to ATTOM's latest report. Only Florida ranked worse. SC's rate runs roughly 56% above the national average of one per 3,562 homes, and North Carolina isn't far behind at #14 with 1,539 filings.

This isn't new. SC Public Radio reported that the state actually led the entire country in Q4 2025, with one filing per 689 housing units. For the full year, SC ranked third nationally at one per 242 homes. It's been building for well over a year, and the trend line hasn't reversed. If you're a homeowner in the Midlands or the Lowcountry, the question isn't whether filings are high near you. They are. The question is what you're going to do about it, and whether your equity gives you a way out before the court process starts moving.

Here's what that table looks like visually. You'll notice the gap between SC and the national average isn't small.

SC hasn't dropped out of the nation's top three for foreclosure filings in three straight quarters. This isn't a blip.

Charlotte Metro Filings Nearly Quadrupled the National Growth Rate

The Charlotte metro recorded 517 foreclosure filings in April 2026, up from 309 a year earlier, according to Charlotte Stories citing ATTOM data. That year-over-year jump is nearly four times the national increase of 18%. No other major NC metro is growing this fast.

What does that look like? The Charlotte metro covers 2.7 million people across NC and SC. A foreclosure filing is a legal document — a notice of default, a scheduled auction, or a bank repossession — that means a homeowner can't keep up. Not every filing ends in a lost home. But each one means a real family under real pressure. With 500-plus filings in a single month, that's roughly 17 households a day getting paperwork they didn't want. The Charlotte metro pulls in York and Lancaster Counties from SC, so the elevated South Carolina rate adds fuel to these local numbers.

If you're a homeowner near the I-485 loop, maybe in Ballantyne or off the Providence Road corridor in South Charlotte, the pressure is coming from multiple directions at once. Mortgage rates doubled since 2021. Homeowner insurance climbed 9% statewide. Property tax reassessments pushed Mecklenburg bills higher. Any one of those might be manageable on its own. Stack all three, and the math stops working for some families, which is exactly what the filing data reflects.

Seventeen Charlotte-area families a day are getting foreclosure paperwork. That's not a crisis yet, but it's not normal either.

How the Carolinas' Biggest Metros Compare

Columbia, South Carolina has the worst metro-level foreclosure rate in the Carolinas. It's also the second worst in the entire country. ATTOM's April 2026 data via HousingWire puts Columbia at one filing per 1,287 housing units. That's more than double the national rate. Charleston isn't far behind at one per 1,483.

For the full year of 2025, SC's metro-level numbers weren't any better. SC Public Radio reported that Columbia had 2,267 total filings, ranking second nationally among all 225 metros with over 200,000 people. Spartanburg ranked 12th and Charleston ranked 17th. That's three South Carolina metros in the national top 20, which is striking for a state with fewer than 5 million people. If you're in one of these areas, your options for stopping or getting ahead of a foreclosure depend on where you are in the process.

*Charleston ranked in the top five among metros tracked by ATTOM. Spartanburg's 2025 rank is from the annual report. Raleigh data reflects foreclosure starts only. Sources: ATTOM via HousingWire (April 2026), SC Public Radio (2025 annual).

Raleigh's worth its own callout. It doesn't crack the top national rankings yet, but foreclosure starts in the Raleigh metro more than doubled between April 2025 and April 2026, jumping from 68 to 146. That's a 115% increase, the steepest of any major NC metro. If you're in the Triangle and you've fallen behind, the North Carolina foreclosure timeline gives you a clear picture of how much time you've actually got at each stage.

Three South Carolina metros landed in the national top 20 for foreclosure rates. That's a lot of pressure concentrated in one small state.

Why Are Foreclosures Rising in the Carolinas?

Three forces are stacking on top of each other, and none of them is a crisis on its own. Pandemic moratoriums expired, mortgage rates stayed above 6.5%, and insurance costs kept climbing. Together, they explain why Carolina homeowners are showing up in the foreclosure data more often than owners in 36 other states.

Pandemic moratoriums ended. Federal and state protections that paused foreclosures between 2020 and 2023 have fully expired. Lenders who couldn't act on delinquent loans for three years are now processing them, and that catch-up wave is big. ATTOM's Q1 2026 report showed bank repossessions up 45% nationally year over year. Many of the homes entering foreclosure today aren't new distress; they're cases that sat frozen during the moratorium and are only now moving through the pipeline. It's not that the housing market suddenly broke. It's that the system finally started processing what was already broken.

Mortgage rates and insurance doubled the squeeze. The average 30-year fixed rate hasn't dropped below 6.5% since mid-2023. If you bought or refinanced at 3% during the pandemic and then lost income, your payment itself isn't the issue. But if you had an adjustable-rate mortgage, your monthly cost may have jumped $400 to $800. On top of that, NC homeowner insurance premiums climbed nearly double digits in the past year, adding $100 to $150 a month for an average home. These aren't headline-grabbing expenses, but they're the ones that push a tight budget over the edge.

SC's judicial foreclosure system creates a backlog effect. South Carolina requires a court order to foreclose, which slows things down but also creates a pileup. Nationally, the average foreclosure takes 577 days from first filing to completion. In judicial states like SC, it can run even longer. That means the state's high filing rate partly reflects old cases still working through the courts, not just new distress. For homeowners, that longer timeline is a double-edged sword: you've got more time to act, but you're also stuck in months of uncertainty. If you're in the Carolinas and your taxes are behind too, the SC property tax lien timeline shows when the county can start its own collection process on top of whatever the mortgage servicer is doing.

What to Do If You're Behind on Your Mortgage

If you've missed one or two payments, you still have time. Most NC and SC lenders take 4 to 6 months after three missed payments before a home goes to auction. Act before the filing goes public, because that's when your options narrow and your credit takes a hit.

1. Call your mortgage servicer and ask for loss mitigation. That's the department that helps when you're behind on payments. Ask specifically about a loan modification (they change your rate or term to lower the payment), a forbearance (they pause payments for a set period), or a repayment plan (they spread your missed amount across future payments). You don't need a lawyer for this call. Just call the number on your statement and say, "I need help with my payments."
2. Check if you qualify for the NC Homeowner Assistance Fund. North Carolina received federal money to help homeowners behind on mortgage, taxes, or insurance. You can apply through the NC Housing Finance Agency. South Carolina has a similar program through SC Housing. These programs pay your servicer directly and don't have to be repaid. They run out, so don't wait.
3. Get your home's value. Even if you think your home isn't worth much, you'd probably be surprised. Equity is the part of your home you actually own after subtracting what you owe. If you owe $180,000 and your home's worth $280,000, that's $100,000 in equity. It's yours. A sale, even a fast one, puts that cash in your pocket.
4. Know your selling paths. You can list with an agent (takes 60 to 90 days), sell without repairs through a cash buyer (can close in 10 to 14 days), or do a short sale if you owe more than the home's worth (requires lender approval). There's no single right answer. Our cash offer guide for the Carolinas breaks down the math on each path.
5. Talk to a HUD-approved housing counselor. It's free. They'll review your situation, contact your servicer on your behalf, and help you understand what a foreclosure would actually mean for your credit and your next move. Find one at HUD.gov.

Here's how that might play out. Say you're a homeowner near the Carowinds exit off I-77 in Fort Mill. You bought the house for $260,000 in 2019, you still owe $215,000, and your home is now worth about $340,000. You've missed three payments because of a medical bill. Step one: call your servicer and ask about forbearance. Step two: check the SC Housing assistance fund. If neither works fast enough, you could sell for cash, pay off the $215,000 loan, and keep roughly $100,000 after closing costs. A foreclosure, by contrast, would mean losing the home and the equity.

Most homeowners behind on payments still have equity. A sale before the foreclosure completes means you keep that money instead of losing it.

If you've already received a foreclosure notice, the options for selling a home in foreclosure in Charlotte are different depending on what stage you're in. The earlier you act, the more options you have.