Foreclosure petitions in state rose again in May, up 28.7 percent compared with May 2015, according to a new report from The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman. This marks the 27th consecutive month of year-over-year increases in foreclosure starts.

Lenders filed 1,130 petitions to foreclose in May 2016, compared with 878 filed in May last year. There have been 5,614 petitions filed year to date in Massachusetts, a 26.7 percent increase from last year’s mark through May with 4,430.

“Foreclosure starts are beginning to ease in 2016. In 2015 the gain was 55.1 percent. The 26.7 percent gain so far this year is a significant drop off from last year,” Timothy Warren Jr., CEO of The Warren Group, said in a statement. “While the increase is moderating, it seems unlikely that the total number of foreclosure starts will start to decrease in 2016.”

There were 875 auction notices filed in May, a 52.7 percent increase from the 573 filed in May 2015. There have been 3,761 auctions in Massachusetts year to date, a 41.5 percent increase from the same stretch in 2015 when there were 2,657.

There were also 458 foreclosure deeds filed in May, a 33.1 percent increase from the 344 deeds filed in May 2015. There have been a total of 2,402 deeds recorded in Massachusetts in 2016, a 47.9 percent increase from the 1,624 filed through May 2015.