Foreclosures Putting Pressure On Courts

June 9th, 2008 | Tags: Foreclosures

The increasing number of foreclosure lawsuits in Las Vegas, are putting extreme pressure on the courts – ill equipped and unprepared to handle such growing numbers. Whether it is foreclosure, bankruptcy or eviction – all have to be routed through the courts.

The scenes at the courtroom are common. There are many like Vicky Archibeque protesting loudly against eviction and bank repossession. Her story is that of many – unable to pay mortgage installments she has been handed over an eviction notice. It is a cocktail of personal emotion and legal fight. She is overpowered by a feeling of being wronged upon.

The numbers of such incidents keep piling. Foreclosure eviction numbers jumped from 700 in 2006 to 1,800 in 2007. In 2008 the first three months have already seen 1,100 evictions. It is feared that if this pace continues unabated then before the year dies out 3,000 legal notices will have been issued.

Judge Douglas Smith complains about a huge backlog. He explains that the attorney’s are not at fault – the fault lies in the system. Everyday Judge Smith sees the backlog worsening. It is calculating to millions of dollars in extra work put in. As it is, the court is handling 15,000 criminal cases and over 40,000 civil law suits. Judge Smith concludes that ‘Well, Las Vegas is the busiest court in the United States.” The work in the court has slowed down to a crawl while the taxpayer’s money is being bled. The amount of work is without parallel.

Shawn Christopher, the attorney of Vicky claims that so far bankruptcy had helped her but soon she became one of the 3,000 being evicted. At one point it became a losing battle. After a month it seems disheartening to realize that one has fought for ultimate failure. The biggest problem is facing the children who do not understand the collapsing world around. Fortunately a disability cheque coming in gave her another breathing spell.

Legal experts opine that people will go the whole hog to fight so that they can continue to stay in the houses that are their homes. This means the lenders will have to make more trips to the courts, cough up more money before the occupants can be thrown out. But for the lenders the story does not end there. Vacant house – countless numbers of these – are creating another type of problem churning up public outcry and governmental wrath.