According to RealtyTrac, Riverside country has received a total of 6,897 mortgage default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions in October, which is 15 per cent less than in September, but 13 percent more than a year ago. The state has fourth highest foreclosed properties. The three California countries with highest foreclosure activities are San Joaquin, Yuba and Merced. According to RealtyTrac, California's overall foreclosure activity has come down with 56,954 filings recorded in October-18 percent less than in September and 13 percent more than the year before. California has slipped to No.4 from third position in national foreclosure activity, the first three being Nevada, Arizona and Florida. To prevent foreclosure it has become mandatory that before a lender can proceed with filing a notice of default against a property, he must first try to contact the borrower and determine whether loan modification or other arrangements are possible to prevent foreclosure. If a borrower fails to respond to lender's letter, the lender can proceed with the foreclosure process after 30 days have elapsed from the time of the last attempt to make contact with the borrower, according to the law. One in 102 households in Riverside country slipped into foreclosure last month, compared to roughly 1in 114 in October 2007.