Foreclosures Flooding Courts in Florida

June 23rd, 2009 | Tags: Foreclosure

foreclosure repos

Florida courts are being flooded by foreclosures and the judges are trying to find ways to ease the congestion.

Florida is responsible for one sixth of all the foreclosures in USA. The state legislators are apathetic in finding solutions. Only a couple of judges are trying to find ways to tackle the overflow of foreclosure cases in the courts.

Judge Burt Conner said, “It’s very frustrating to recognize that consistently over the last three years we’ve sustained budget cutbacks and staff reductions in the court system and this tsunami has hit with foreclosures.” His jurisdiction covers the counties of Lucie, Martin and Okeechobee.His circuit has started to stipulate that the two parties sit across the table before appearing in court. The policy has worked and many cases have been settled.

Palm Beach County started a new programme to assist the borrowers to understand the options available that will help them continue to stay in their homes.

In Tallahassee similar action has been sluggish. It is accountable for 11% of the mortgage that are in foreclosures. The rate is the highest in USA as per the findings of Mortgage Bankers Association.

Although compared to April the number of foreclosures in Florida dropped in this year, it continues to be 50% than the figures of 2008 according to RealtyTrac

In the spring session that came to a close in May, the state legislators introduced some bills (15 in all) to try to solve the foreclosure problem. Ten of these bills never got a hearing. A good number of these required meetings between the lenders and the borrowers According to the estimates of Center for Responsible Lending one third of those facing foreclosure can manage to stay in their homes if mediation is brought about.

The legislators gave the nod to only two bills dealing with foreclosure. One lays down the minimum federal rules that the lenders have to comply with and another refers to increase in court expenses for foreclosure suits. It has jumped from $300 to $1,900. This has made Alex Sink the Chief Financial Officer of the state comment that the state “should have done more”. He is a Democrat running for the post of governor. He charged the Financial Regulation Office of Florida for failing to regulate the mortgage lenders. It is this has allowed many with criminal records to enter the industry with impunity.