A Quick Way to Clear Backlogs of Bank Foreclosed Cases
May 22nd, 2009 by 
Joseph Smith
Florida foreclosure courts have found a way to quickly lessen the backlogs of bank foreclosed cases. The method, called rocket docket allows foreclosure courts to schedule as many as 250 hearings daily where homeowners usually never showed up.
By adopting this method, it took an average of one minute for each foreclosed home to be returned to lending institutions and set for a foreclosure hearing.
The increasing foreclosure filings after the housing market crash in 2006 created an unprecedented number of foreclosure homes cases in Florida, particularly in Manatee and Sarasota county courts.
However, despite the expedite way of handling foreclosure cases, some foreclosure defense lawyers are concerned that troubled homeowners may lose their homes that they should keep.
It has been the practice of lawyers representing lenders and banks to give false statements in courts about the true holders of mortgage loans or whether all legal steps have been taken to ensure that foreclosed houses are returned on the market.
Meanwhile, 12th Circuit Chief Judge Lee Haworth has added other rules that aim to protect distressed homeowners, including requiring lawyers representing banks to meet with owners and negotiate.
Cases that are put on acceleration are those with absent defendants and no more defenses. In the event that the homeowner attended a hearing, bringing with him a defense attorney, the case will be returned to the normal repossession track.
Economists believed that the faster foreclosure homes can be sold to new homeowners, the faster home values can recover.
Fast tracking foreclosure cases would greatly help in reducing the bank foreclosed backlogs in Florida. The state reported about 119,220 foreclosure filings in the first quarter of this year, representing a 12 percent decline from the last quarter a year ago. However, the quarterly figures were still 36 percent higher than those in the fourth quarter of 2008.
Data from the U.S. Foreclosure Market Report of RealtyTrac showed that one out of 73 houses in Florida received a filing for foreclosure during the first three months of 2009. Based on these figures, Florida is currently ranked as the fourth highest state in the United States terms of bank foreclosed rate.
