“We think this is the best time to get a deal on a house,” the auctioneer said.
RealtyTrac.com reported Florida foreclosure filings are down 18 percent from March, but Florida still ranks the second highest in the nation.
“I think it is a sad situation and I don’t see a turnaround soon,” said investor Maxie Roper.
It’s a sad situation that affects many First Coast neighborhoods, not only in the appearance of the foreclosed property but in the resale value of every home.
The Northeast Florida Association of Realtors reported in the overall market, the median home sales price was down 9.6 percent in April. Foreclosure filings in Jacksonville are also down 13.9 percent from March to April.
Right now one in every 246 homes is in some stage of foreclosure.
Hardest hit? East of Southside Boulevard – 55 percent of the homes in that area for sale are in foreclosure. Oakleaf Plantation in Orange Park – 58 percent of the homes for sale are in foreclosure.
“I would be guessing, but I would say that 90 to 95 percent of foreclosures are filed by the mills,” said Legal Aid Attorney Lynn Drysdale.
Drysdale said a foreclosure mill is a law firm that handles the ‘lion’s share’ of foreclosure filings. She is concerned about the accuracy in the cases filed by foreclosure mills.
“We find that the documents that are necessary to get a final judgment are manufactured falsely and are not accurate documents,” Drysdale said.
While none of those firms are located on the First Coast, the filings are here.
Tom Bloomer is a Camden County businessman on the wrong end of inaccurate foreclosure documents. “First I said they goofed up here, and then they said no we’re taking the house. It started to get scary,” he said.
RealtyTrac.com reported one in every 361 Camden County homes is in foreclosure; Bloomer’s home is one of them.
“I have made my payments. I’ve made every single payment,” said Bloomer.
He purchased his home two years ago from a Wells Fargo bank customer and is current on his mortgage. So he’s left wondering why his home is in foreclosure.
“They will not listen to me at all. I have actually filed a complaint with the Comptroller of Currency,” said Bloomer.
Now Wells Fargo, unable to reach the seller about a debt, is foreclosing on Bloomer even though he doesn’t owe Wells Fargo anything. In fact, his mortgage from the day he purchased his home has been with Bank of America.
Bloomer said he is the victim of a wrongful foreclosure. “It is a scary ordeal.”
This example tells me that Wells Fargo doesn’t know what the crap is going on. The money the buyer borrowed from BOA to buy the home should have been deposited into an escrow account and that money should have paid off the WF loan at closing. But WF’s HAL 9000 insane computer system is so overwhelmed the information didn’t get recorded as a payoff. The Seller should have received a satisfaction of mortgage from WF. The bank can not clear the title; they don’t have the documentation. Thus, the title is clouded. Even if you sell your home to a Bona Fide Purchaser you may find out that you can’t deliver clear title to the new owner or satisfy the mortgage with a payoff. This is WHY you must demand the original note and examine every singer piece of paper you receive. What a mess!