Florida House and the Federal Government are Stepping in to Help with Foreclosure Backlog

This past week, Florida’s courts were allocated a $4 million one-time stipend in the 2012-2013 state appropriations bill to help with the astonishing backlog of foreclosures. This boost to the budget will be used to hire additional judges and case managers to handle the nearly 368,000 foreclosure cases in the state that are awaiting processing. If approved, this money will be available by July 1st.

In 2010, Florida received $6 million to hire additional judges, which helped to clear over 129,000 foreclosure cases. The state is optimistic that this budget boost will help to do the same in 2012.

This isn’t entirely all good news however. Half of these funds are intended to cushion the blow from a 7 percent budget cut that equated to $31 million in last year’s budget. This $4 million fell short of the $5.7 million of what was requested.

Additionally, the Florida House has passed SB1890, which expedites foreclosures on abandoned properties where the Judge finds the homeowner has no meritorious defenses, and is waiting for the Senate to do the same.

Finally, a $25 billion national settlement was announced in February between the Federal Government and banking giants Bank of America, Wells Fargo, JP Morgan Chase, Ally Financial and CitiGroup, which helps homeowners in 49 states with loan modifications.

Will all of these measures turn around the housing market and stave off growing foreclosure rates? Time will tell. Let us know what you think.