Mortgage Default Information

Where fewer foreclosures are now bad for business

BUILDER Online |

In Brief...

Across the nation, troubled homeowners have cheered the news that some banks are slowing the foreclosure process to review questionable documents. Then there are places like Lee County, Fla., where not everyone is applauding. So in October, when some big banks suspended foreclosures in states like Florida where lenders need a judge's approval to foreclose, some local businesses became alarmed. Jason Ruggles, a foreman for B. Perez Landscaping in the Lee County city of Fort Myers, said he has cleaned and cultivated greenery at only a handful of foreclosed homes for banks and new owners in the past month. In Lee County, foreclosure filings last month numbered 565, the fewest in any month since 2007. One, Bank of America, has restarted the foreclosure process in about half the country, including Florida, though its nationwide halt in foreclosure home sales remains in place. Peter Murphy, a Florida real estate consultant, is among those who worry about a slowdown in foreclosures in areas like Lee County. , who wants to invest in a $30,000 foreclosed condo in Lee County. If he and other would-be buyers of foreclosed homes could complete their purchases, they could send money flowing through Lee County. Neither will the management company that would benefit from his plan to rent the condo to seasonal residents - people who would shop at stores and eat in restaurants in Lee County. Flanked by the Gulf of Mexico's sands on one side and southwest Florida swampland on the other, Lee County is home to 440,000 people. Lee County had the highest proportion of homeowners in default in Florida. Charlie Green, the Lee County clerk of court, is still waiting to see how the freeze will affect both his office and the county in general.

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