Foreclosure Filings Surge In South Florida Region In First Half Of 2012
Published on 7/5/2012 8:41:00 PM 
Lenders initiated more than 12,200 foreclosure actions in the tricounty South Florida region in the second quarter of 2012, representing a 70 percent surge in filings on a year-over-year basis compared to the same April through June period in 2011, according to a new report from CondoVultures.com.
For the year, lenders have filed nearly 22,500 notices of default - the first step in the repossession process - in the first six months of 2012 in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties after filing less than 14,000 actions during he same January through June period in 2011, according to the report based on the Condo Vultures® Foreclosure Database™.
Despite the spike in South Florida foreclosure actions in the first half of this year, the 2012 total is about 60 percent of the number of filings initiated during the same six-month period in previous years when nearly 35,000 actions were filed in 2010 and more than 52,000 actions were filed in 2009, according to the report based on filings with the Clerks of the Court for each respective county.
"Foreclosure filings spiked in South Florida in the first full quarter following the National Mortgage Settlement Agreement being reached in February 2012," said Peter Zalewski, a principal with the Greater Downtown Miami-based real estate consultancy Condo Vultures® LLC. "Lenders appear to be playing catch up for the unofficial 15-month moratorium that was voluntarily instituted by many large banks when news first surfaced of the 'robo-signer' controversy in the autumn of 2010. The agreement between the government and the largest mortgage servicers is meant to establish a transparent process for dealing with the foreclosure crisis in South Florida and the nation.
"Going forward, it is unclear what impact the settlement agreement will have on new foreclosure filings in South Florida."
Administrative irregularities in the repossession process first surfaced in late September 2010, creating a "foreclosure freeze" that prompted many lenders to slow the number of defaults being initiated against borrowers in South Florida between October and December 2010 compared to the same three-month period in 2009.
The slowdown in the foreclosure filing process continued throughout 2011.
In February 2012 after months of negotiations, the nation's five largest mortgage servicers cut a deal with the federal government and the attorneys general from 49 states to provide at least $25 billion in relief to borrowers.
The settlement agreement incentivizes the mortgage services to consider various options – including principal reductions, mortgage modifications, and shortsales - before filing to foreclose on borrowers who owe more than their residences are worth currently, according to the agreement.
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