published: Sunday, January 03, 2010

Foreclosures now ordered to go to mediation

By ED BALDRIDGE

ed.baldridge@newssun.com

SEBRING -- Those affected by foreclosure may see some relief as courts statewide have been ordered to expedite and mediate for those losing their home.

The Florida Supreme Court ordered local judges this week to adopt a uniform mediation program to help pare down nearly 450,000 current foreclosure cases clogging the state's courtrooms.

According to Clerk of Courts Bob Germaine, Highlands County currently has 1,502 homes in the system pending foreclosure, with a few more waiting to be filed.

Germaine said that the county currently has five Supreme Court approved mediators, but he does not see the change making a difference in the judge's docket, nor in the amount of cases filed.

"If we see a 10 percent reduction in a judge's time, I will be surprised. The case still has to be filed, and by the time it gets to the courts, our local banks have already tried what they could to work out a solution," Germaine said.

After the homes are foreclosed, then they are sold at a sheriff's sale, but even at a discount, they are not moving.

"No one is showing up for the sales, and the banks are taking them back right now," Germaine said.

"Some folks are just walking away because the houses are upside down in value, especially investment property like rentals," Germaine added.

The justices adopted the recommendations Monday from a court-appointed task force that all cases involving primary homes should be mediated and that judges should expedite cases dealing with vacant and abandoned properties.

The ruling from Florida's high court noted the state has the third highest mortgage delinquency rate in the nation, the worst foreclosure inventory and the most foreclosure starts with 456,000 pending foreclosure cases.

November showed a drastic increase in foreclosure cases filed in Highlands County, with a spike of 377 over the October number of 199 and the September high of 207, according to RealtyTrac.com, a national tracking service for real estate trends.

The median price of a foreclosed home is now at $92,423, according RealtyTrac stats.

Lake Placid led the foreclosure race with 224 cases, Sebring had 113, Avon Park 32, Venus five, and Lorida three as the region struggles out from under the recession.

Job loss was listed as the number one reason for home foreclosure locally, but Highlands County only ranks 32nd in statewide foreclosures in 2009.

Osceola County is ranked first in the state and the country with 7,784 foreclosures for the year.