Today, research and analysis company CoreLogic® released its June 2013 National Foreclosure Report and the numbers of foreclosures across the United States has dropped twenty percent in the past year while from May 2013 to June 2013, the number of completed foreclosures (where the owners have officially lost their homes) went up by 2.5%.
The president of CoreLogic reports this is all very good news; from their news release, Anand Nallathambi is quoted to say, “The housing market is clearly on the mend, but we expect the ultimate conclusion of the present housing down cycle to be another several years away.”
So what about Florida? We’re Number One, By a Mile
Well, according to their numbers:
Florida leads the country in the most completed foreclosures (banks take title to the home in judicial foreclosure) with 107,000 completed foreclosures from June 2012 to June 2013; followed by California (72,000), Michigan (63,000), Texas (48,000) and Georgia (44,000).
Florida has the highest foreclosure inventory in the United States when it’s tallied as a percentage of all mortgaged homes at 8.6%, with New Jersey coming in second (6.0 percent), followed by New York (4.8 percent), Connecticut (4.2 percent) and Maine (4.1 percent). (These are homes with mortgages where the mortgage servicer or lender has begun foreclosure but it’s still in process.)
Impact of the new Florida Fair Foreclosure Act of 2013
We’ve already warned about the new Florida Fair Foreclosure Act of 2013, which became law on July 1, 2013. While many of its opponents (including this blog) argued that the right thing to do was provide sufficient manpower to the Florida judicial system to do what it’s meant to do: work the cases and clear the docket, instead the Florida Legislature passed a new law that changes the foreclosure process in this state.
And this change will impact all those in the “foreclosure inventory” reported in CoreLogic’s latest report — as well as Florida home owners who face foreclosure proceedings in the future.
What will happen now is Florida home owners essentially have to provide admissible evidence that they should not be the victim of foreclosure. The bank’s right to foreclose isn’t going to be questioned unless the home owner asks. This is how things are going to be made more efficient under this new law.
Are basic rights of the Florida home owner being put at risk? Sure.
Is due process in question? You betcha.
However, consumer rights have fallen to the pressure of the judicial docket backlog and the banks’ crying out for help because they’ve got this huge foreclosure volume (past, present, and future) to resolve.
It’s very important for Florida homeowners to realize that under the new Florida foreclosure law they have a big and fast deadline to do something to fight the foreclosure: the Act gives a Florida borrower a mere TWENTY DAYS (20 DAYS) to file their defense(s) to the bank’s right to take their home in a judicial foreclosure.
Twenty days.
That’s a pretty small window for an experienced Florida foreclosure defense lawyer to gather the appropriate documentation, review the current court cases and opinions, and then prepare and file the necessary paperwork in the foreclosure lawsuit. Imagine the pressure on the Florida homeowner who decides to take on this burden themselves, without the benefit of an experienced attorney to help them.
Fair? You make the call.
After all, Florida is number one in the country for citizens facing a foreclosure proceeding these days. Lots of people are going to be impacted here.
And let’s not forget the July 2013 report out of RealtyTrac earlier this month: Florida also leads the country in the number of foreclosed homes that are sitting VACANT in communities and neighborhoods across the state. Banks seem to be in a hurry to foreclose and then the houses are going to set there, empty, for a long time. Maybe there’s one near you.
Do you have questions or comments? Then please feel free to Chat with Larry in the comments below, at info@hallandalelaw.com, or (954) 458-8655. If you have a specific or personal situation, please call or email Larry because he can’t answer specific fact questions in general comments.
“I’m happy to take your call.”
