After a year of fewer foreclosures, as bankers reeled from revelations that they were falsifying documents in foreclosure cases, the latest monthly numbers suggest banks are starting to repossess houses again.
Here is an excerpt of an interesting article from the Bradenton Herald on this topic:
The big banks are back in the foreclosure business.
After a year of fewer foreclosures, as bankers reeled from revelations that they were falsifying documents in foreclosure cases, the latest monthly numbers suggest banks are starting to repossess houses again.
In October, foreclosure actions rose 44 percent from the month before in Charlotte County, 20 percent in Sarasota County, 37 percent for Florida and 7 percent for the country as a whole, according to data from RealtyTrac, an Irvine, Calif., market research firm.
Only Manatee County bucked the state and national trend. Its foreclosure actions fell 25 percent from September.
The overall rise in foreclosures was welcomed by real estate agents who have been frustrated by what they view as artificial supply shortages in the face of strong investor demand. But if foreclosure filings keep increasing in the coming months — as expected — it could drive home prices down again and may make it even more difficult for non-distressed owners to sell.
What could make the situation worse before it gets better, experts say, is an increasing number of underwater homeowners don’t see the point of struggling any longer.
“People are worn out and the stigma tied to foreclosure is gone,” Shari Olefson, an attorney with Fowler White and author of “Foreclosure Nation: Mortgaging the American Dream.” “At cocktails they are no longer embarrassed if they have stopped paying, they are embarrassed if they are still paying. And they are being empowered by the Occupy Wall Street movement.”
For the time being, real estate agents are glad fresh supplies of foreclosures are coming on the market.
Court records show that the 10 largest lenders in Sarasota and Manatee counties filed 591 early-stage, or lis pendens, actions in October — a 32 percent increase from the 447 filed in September.
Bank of America — the owner of Countrywide — led the way with 170 early-stage filings, compared with 118 the month before.
At the same time, short sales — in which banks permit owners to sell properties for less than they owe on their mortgages — also are on the upswing.
Across the country, 230,678 foreclosure actions were filed in October, a 7 percent increase from the previous month, but still down nearly 31 percent from October 2011.
Nevada, California, Arizona and Florida posted the top state foreclosure rates.
One in every 180 Nevada housing units had a foreclosure filing during October — more than three times the national average.
California came in second with one out of every 243 housing units. Arizona was third with one out every 259 and Florida was fourth with one out of every 268.