August broke a string of big reductions in new foreclosure lawsuits filed in Hawaii during the first seven months of this year.

Statistics from the state Judiciary show that lenders and other creditors initiated 111 foreclosure cases in August, or 3 percent more than the 108 cases filed in the same month last year.

Statistics from August are the most recent available, though figures for May, June and July that have not been previously reported showed drops between 20 percent and 37 percent.

The number of new cases in July was 112, which was down 37 percent from 179 in the same month last year. There were 123 cases in June, down 20 percent from 153 a year earlier. And in May, there were 122 cases, down 22 percent from 157 a year earlier.

Declines of around 20 percent or more had been the norm this year until August, and compared with a 5 percent decrease for all of last year over 2015.

One factor that could be influencing the volume of new cases this year is a Hawaii Supreme Court decision in February that affects the degree of docu­mentation lenders must present in state court to prove that they held a mortgage note on a home at the time they initiated foreclosure.

THE case, Bank of America v. Reyes-Toledo, involves a homeowner who in 2011 defaulted on a mortgage issued in 2007 by Countrywide Home Loans. Bank of America, which acquired Countrywide in 2008, filed a foreclosure lawsuit in 2012.

The Oahu homeowner, Grisel Reyes-Toledo, among other things, contended that the bank failed to show that it owned the note at the time the case was filed.

Among documents submitted in court by Bank of America were a copy of the note, a copy of the note’s assignment from Countrywide, payment records and a declaration by a bank employee stating that the bank possessed the note.

A Circuit judge in 2014 approved the foreclosure by granting the bank’s motion for summary judgment.

But Reyes-Toledo, represented by local attorney R. Steven Geshell, argued that summary judgment, which is appropriate when no material facts are in dispute, shouldn’t have been granted because none of the documents showed that the bank held the mortgage note at the time it filed the foreclosure case.

The Intermediate Court of Appeals upheld the Circuit Court decision last year. But Hawaii’s high court reversed the lower court decisions, concluding that none of the documents indicated a date when the mortgage note was assigned. The employee declaration stating that the bank held the note was filed after the case was initiated.

“Consequently, there is a genuine issue as to whether Bank of America was entitled to foreclose when it commenced the proceeding,” the decision by the high court states.

AS a result, arguments over whether the bank is entitled to foreclose were directed back to Circuit Court.

Geshell said he’s been involved in new cases since the high court decision in which lenders are having to alter how they had been filing cases. “It’s just a recurring thing,” he said.

However, it’s not clear whether this issue is delaying the filing of foreclosure lawsuits and influencing the number of cases filed this year.

It could be that fewer foreclosures are being filed because Hawaii’s economy is doing well, with very low unemployment, rising personal income and appreciating home values.

Most foreclosure cases in Circuit Court are filed by lenders against home­owners. But they also can include cases involving commercial real estate and cases initiated by condo­minium associations against homeowners who fail to pay maintenance fees or other assessments. Other kinds of foreclosure cases, including actions involving timeshare properties and some condo association claims, are typically done through an out-of-court process that is not counted in Judiciary data.