Tag: Zombie Foreclosures

South Florida’s Zombie Foreclosures Have Plunged

Posted on by Emil Fleysher

Zombie foreclosures, or abandoned properties that are going through the foreclosure process, have had a dramatic decline in South Florida in the past year. According to RealtyTrac’s Zombie Foreclosure Alert, there has been a 46 percent decline in Zombie Foreclosure during the second quarter of litigation; which translates to about 7,021 properties. An attorney from Royal Palm Beach attributes this to higher knowledge of the law. Residents are aware that they are not required to leave the property until it is sold. This is a great benefit to both parties.

Ghost Neighborhoods because of Zombie Foreclosures

The average value of a property that remains occupied during the foreclosure process is $251,236. Once a property turns into a Zombie Foreclosure it loses about 22 percent of its value; knocking it down to $195,856. It is in the bank’s best interest for a property to remain occupied during the foreclosure process. This is because zombie properties tend to have overgrown yards and incur fees for municipal code violations. Abandoned homes also tend to have mold issues which could become costly for the bank to amend. Empty homes tend to bring down the value of all homes around them. This eventually turns them into ghost neighborhoods, where every other property is deserted.

However, lenders are more inclined to offer loan modifications to keep borrowers in their homes. And, to rehabilitate former nonperforming loans as the economy improves. An attorney from Miami who represents lenders stated that they are getting increasingly more wary and tired of the litigation process. They prefer to extend the option of loan modifications to borrowers. Furthermore, they do this to avoid the year to two years wait for the foreclosure process to be complete.

If you have questions about Foreclosure, Loan Modification, Bankruptcy, Short Sale, or other alternatives, please feel free to call my office at 888-886-0020. Or, send an e-mail to emil@fleysherlaw.com, or complete the contact form below.

Florida “Zombie” Foreclosures Are The Highest Throughout The Nation

Posted on by Emil Fleysher

Throughout the U.S., Florida has the highest number of “zombie” foreclosures. “Zombie” foreclosure is a term for properties that are under foreclosure but have been abandoned. There are only 36,000 pending “zombie” foreclosures, which is a 35 percent decline from this time last year. However, other states are also experiencing the same; such as California, Illinois, Indiana, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Maryland, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. This kind of foreclosure accounts for about one-fourth of all foreclosures in Florida.

In fact, “zombie” foreclosures pose a great problem for the banks that have ownership of the property. Moreover, the banks are trying to put them back on the market. However, many of these homes have an overgrown lawn and many damages. Also, the utilities might not have been working for months or perhaps even years. Although these foreclosures have been down since a year ago, they still represent a large share of foreclosures nationwide. There are more than 142,000 properties that are under foreclosure and that went through abandonment nationwide, reported RealtyTrac.

Daren Blomquist, the vice president of RealtyTrac, stated that “zombie” foreclosure is normally the problem cases still “stuck in the pipeline”. Moreover, he also stated that they are more common in the states with a longer foreclosure process. Mr. Blomquist also stated, “The increase in zombie foreclosures is actually a good sign that banks and courts are finally moving forward with a resolution on these properties that may have been sitting in foreclosure limbo for years”.

Zombie Foreclosures in Other states

In fact, New York had the most of these at the end of last month with more than 19,000. This is at the metropolitan level. Moreover, others metro areas near the top of the list were, Tampa, South Florida, Orlando, Jacksonville, Baltimore, Philadelphia, Jacksonville, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles.

If you have questions about Foreclosure, Loan Modification, Bankruptcy, Short Sale, or other alternatives, please feel free to call my office at 888-886-0020. Or, send an e-mail to emil@fleysherlaw.com, or complete the contact form below.