If there is a ground zero for the
nation’s foreclosure crisis last month, South Florida is it.
Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade
counties were ranked the highest metro region in the nation for
foreclosure activity in February, while the state as a whole took
the top spot for the sixth consecutive month.
With one in every 282 homes receiving
a foreclosure notice last month, Florida’s foreclosure rate was
more than three times the national average, according to a report
from the market research firm RealtyTrac.
The report, released today, measures
three types of filings — initial notices of foreclosure, notices
of a foreclosure sale, and final bank repossession.
In Florida, the number of homeowners
falling into foreclosure for the first time was up 13 percent from
the same time in 2012 and up 16 percent from January. Bank
repossessions were down statewide by 10 percent from the previous
year and 11 percent from January.
RealtyTrac Vice President Daren
Blomquist said foreclosure trends are changing nationwide as some
states enact laws to slow the process and others work to streamline
it. He predicted a gradual decline in foreclosures over the next two
years, but said “flare-ups are popping up in states where
foreclosures have been delayed by a lengthy court process or by new
legislation making it more difficult to foreclose outside of the
court system.”
Boca Raton-based foreclosure defense
attorney Margery Golant said South Florida courts have enacted new
rules to push through aging foreclosure cases, which would show up
in increasing sale notices and bank repossessions.
In Palm Beach and Miami-Dade
counties, block groups of trials are being set by the court,
compelling both sides to the hearing unless given more time by a
judge.
“The courts are bearing down and
forcing cases to trial whether they are ready or not,” Golant
said. “There are many files that could and should be closed, but
they are pushing cases across the board.”
Florida has 366,250 pending
foreclosure cases in the courts and expects 680,000 more to be filed
in the next three years, said Lisa Goodner, state courts
administrator.
The campaign to increase the
processing speed is evident in Miami-Dade County’s February
foreclosure filings.
RealtyTrac shows just 915 notices of
foreclosure sale filed in February 2012. That skyrocketed to 3,109
notices last month. Miami-Dade started setting the block trials in
the fall. Palm Beach County just issued its administrative order
last month.
Despite the processing push, suburban
Lake Worth resident Aubrey Thomas was able to get his 2009
foreclosure delayed. The 70-year-old, whose house was scheduled to
be sold at auction on Monday, recently found a full-time job in
housekeeping with the Department of Veterans Affairs. He now is
hoping to get a loan modification that will allow him to keep his
home.
“The bank has tried to work with
me, but on only a social security income, it was tough,” said
Thomas, who got into trouble after refinancing during the real
estate boom and then losing his job during the recession.
Golant said lenders have been
motivated to approve more short sales and loan modifications
following the $25 billion nationwide settlement for
foreclosure-related abuses. The settlement, between 49 attorneys
general and Bank of America, Ally Financial, Citimortgage, JPMorgan
Chase and Wells Fargo requires them to provide mortgage relief to
borrowers.
But the settlement also includes
guidelines for proper foreclosure proceedings, which Golant said is
giving banks more confidence to file to repossess a home.
“There was a long lull from the
time the robo-signing thing erupted until the mortgage servicers
felt safe again,” she said. “They’ve opened the floodgates.”
Still,
the total number of Florida homes with foreclosure filings last
month — 31,726 — is below what was seen right after the real
estate crash. In February 2009, 46,391 homes received a foreclosure
filing. That grew to 54,032 in February 2010.