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Foreclosures In 2010: More Of The Same?
Experts say the new year likely will bring little relief to
Florida’s foreclosure crisis, which set another local
record high in 2009.
A variety of factors, from rising unemployment to falling
home values, will keep Florida residential foreclosure
filings at elevated levels in 2010, the experts said. But
they also expect the pace of filings to taper off later in
the year, as efforts to alleviate the crisis take deeper
root.
“Foreclosure numbers will be a little higher” in 2010, said
Shari Olefson, a Fort Lauderdale real estate attorney and
author of “Foreclosure Nation: Mortgaging the American
Dream.” “It won’t increase that much, but it will get worse
before it slowly gets better.”
Lenders and mortgage servicers filed 6,390 foreclosure
suits in Manatee County Circuit Court as of 5 p.m. Thursday,
according to a Manatee County Clerk of Court database.
The final figure likely will be higher as last-minute filings are
entered into the database next week, but it already has
shattered the previous record of 5,592 filings, set in 2008.
Court officials estimate there are more than 456,000
foreclosure cases pending throughout Florida. The state
has among the country’s highest foreclosure rates, with one
in eight Florida homeowners in foreclosure proceedings in
the third quarter, the Mortgage Bankers Association said.
Just as many were at least 30 days behind on their mortgages
but not yet in foreclosure, the group said. That’s a bad sign,
because rising delinquencies typically result in more
foreclosures, experts said.
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Putting A Face To Foreclosure
The boarded up, vacant houses on Jasmine Cove are not only
eyesores for Freddie Askew, they’re also heartbreakers.
“It’s really sad because when I first moved out here it didn’t look
this way. It was beautiful,” she said.
Askew says the empty houses are the result of foreclosures.
The former tenant of 5451 gets emotional as she looks at the
place she used to call home. She was forced to move because
the property was foreclosed and her landlord didn’t let her know.
Askew says Wells Fargo then bought the property, offered her
$500 to move and after not taking the deal she came home to
her things out on the yard.
Askew puts a face to the problem many in Memphis and Shelby
County are facing. According to numbers from the rise foundation
there were over 5200 oreclosures by November of 2009.
Memphis and Shelby County officials have decided to file suit
against Wells Fargo for what they call predatory lending practices.
The main reason, they believe foreclosure rates are so high.
Askew says the suit makes her feel that someone is in her
corner, trying to fight for victims like her.
“It may not put money in our pockets and it may not get us back
what we had but just the fact that somebody gets their just
desserts and you live to see it that’s a good thing,” said Askew.
City and County officials say and injunction will help borrows
and citizens who have been affected by what they call Wells
Fargo’s illegal practices. Monetary relief will be used for
programs and services to help ease the pain.
Representatives for Wells Fargo maintain the claims are
baseless and inaccurate.
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World Starts To Welcome The New Year
Fireworks exploded over Sydney harbour bridge and the Eiffel
Tower prepared for its own coloured-light spectacle as the world
celebrated a New Year that many hope will be more prosperous
and peaceful than 2009.
Revellers across the globe at least temporarily shelved worries
about their future prospects to bid farewell to the first decade of
the 21st century.
The financial downturn hit hard in 2009, sending many industrial
economies into recession, tossing millions out of work and out
of their homes, as foreclosures rose dramatically in some
countries.
Germany’s leader warned her people that the start of the new
decade will not herald immediate relief from the global economic
ills. South Africa’s president was more ebullient, saying the World
Cup is set to make 2010 the country’s most important year since
the end of apartheid in 1994.
Other leaders focused on the positive aspects of 2009. Australian
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said 2009 had been an extraordinary
year for the world — citing the inauguration of the United States’
first black president and international attempts to grapple with
climate change and the global financial crisis.
“The great message from 2009 is that because we’ve been all
in this together, we’ve all worked together,” he said in a New
ear’s message.
Australia got the festivities rolling, with Sydney draping its skies
with explosive bursts of crimson, purple and blue to the delight
of more than a million watchers.
The environmental concerns that accompanied the UN summit in
Copenhagen were on the minds of some as the year ended.
Venice was set to ring in the New Year with wet feet as high tide
was to peak just before midnight to flood low-lying parts of the city –
including St Mark’s Square.
The last year also offered its reminders of the decade’s fight
against terrorism, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and more
recently, rising militant violence in Pakistan. The American
Embassy in Indonesia warned of a possible terrorist attack
on the resort island of Bali on New Year’s Eve.
Some festivities went awry. In the Philippines, hundreds of
people were injured by fireworks and celebratory gunfire
during the celebrations. Many Filipinos, largely influenced
by Chinese tradition, believe that noisy New Year’s
celebrations drive away evil and misfortune — but some
carry that belief to extremes. |
January 1st, 2010 | 
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