Fort Lauderdale stop foreclosure attorneys are alarmed by the number of South Florida foreclosures taking place so far in 2010. At the current pace, lenders are set to repossess 50,000 properties before the year is over.
Last year, the total was 30,400. One reason for the increase is that many South Florida foreclosure sales have moved online. Online auctions are soaking up some of the backlog in foreclosure cases.
This year, banks have been taking title on around 4,000 properties a month in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties. Compared with 2009, that represents an 83% increase. The number is the highest in the last twenty years.
Online auctions on foreclosed properties began in 2010 in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties. Before online auctions, foreclosure auctions all took place in person at a county courthouse.
A change in the law in 2008 made Florida the first state to allow online foreclosure auctions.
An additional county-specific rule in Broward, Miami-Dade, and Palm Beach counties says that a court order is required in order to cancel a foreclosure auction. Because of that difficult requirement, fewer auctions are canceled and more go ahead as scheduled.
A typical scenario is that a lender files a foreclosure action when a homeowner is 90 days past due on their mortgage payments. The lender and homeowner often work to make a deal that will keep the homeowner in the home. If no deal can be reached, the lender moves a head with a foreclosure auction.
- Source: Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel “Repossession Pace: 50,000 Properties Online Foreclosure Auctions Helping Clear Sales Backlog” July 14, 2010
2 Comments
I wonder how many properties actually ever make it to a tax deed sale? I believe the redemption period length would be a factor. If defaults on mortgages are increasing as is the case in most states, then some great bargains could be found. Find Tax Deed investing videos – Tax Deed Tips.
I am an agent in Brevard County FL and we are getting a double slap in the face the all the layoffs at the Space Center…inventory is goig up and sales are going down…not a good sign.