LOS ANGELES — Fewer U.S. homes entered the foreclosure process in January than in any month in more than three years, the latest sign lenders are taking longer to move against homeowners who have fallen behind on mortgage payments.

The number of homes that received an initial default notice fell 1 percent last month from December and tumbled 27 percent from January last year, foreclosure listing firm RealtyTrac said today.

Scheduled foreclosure auctions also fell to the lowest level in two years.

The delays stem partly from foreclosure paperwork problems that came to light last fall, leading many lenders to revisit thousands of foreclosure cases, especially in states such as Florida that require foreclosures to be approved by a judge.

Some lenders that put foreclosure actions on hold temporarily last year have since resumed, but at a more measured pace, causing a decline in the foreclosure-related notices sent to households last month. Banks also have been letting borrowers who have missed payments stay in their homes longer so they can delay adding to their backlog of bad loans.

While lenders are taking longer to move homes into the initial stage of the foreclosure process, they stepped up home repossessions in January.

Banks took back 78,133 properties last month, an increase of 12 percent from December, RealtyTrac said. The January total was down 11 percent from a year earlier, however.

About 5 million borrowers are at least two months behind on their mortgages.

At a state level, Nevada registered the highest foreclosure rate in the nation last month, with one in every 93 households receiving a foreclosure notice.

Arizona posted the second-highest foreclosure rate, thanks in part to a 54 percent monthly spike in home repossessions. California ranked third, with one in every 200 households receiving a foreclosure notice.

Declines in foreclosures in states like Florida pushed Idaho to the No. 4 spot, followed by Utah.

Rounding out the top 10 states with the highest foreclosure rate in January were: Michigan, Georgia, Illinois, Florida and Colorado.