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”.
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.
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