I have been trying to find a pattern here in GA. (Which is a nonjudicial state, and may involve different factors based upon that alone.)

Some of the factors I have been considering include: which foreclosure mill is involved, which (purported) lender is involved, which servicer is involved, which document mill is involved, GSE involvement, MERS involvement, LPS involvement, whether or not any sort of foreclosure defense was originally put forth, (and then if the defense was waged with professional legal help or pro se), whether or not there was a lis pendens filed by the homeowner, zip code of the property, county in which property is located, price range of the property, how far underwater the property is based upon a Zillow or Trulia-type of database, condition of the property, inventory of homes on the market for a particular area, whether or not there is a high HOA fee….

Does anyone out there have any other suggestions? Is anyone out there making any empirical observations that I might want to consider?

I do research for several foreclosure defense attorneys, and I am trying to come up with a way to “triage” the cases. Due to the unfortunate fact that there are more cases out there than the foreclosure defense lawyers can take on, I would, ideally, like to have the ability to better separate out the cases that are out there and are likely to languish indefinitely, and the ones that are in more imminent danger of actual dispossession.

Most months we are working the craziest hours on the cases that are in imminent danger of 1) dispossession, and 2) actual auction of the property.

I have researched some cases in which an auction is conducted but the foreclosure deed is not filed within the 90 day window, as stipulated by state law. (Which, in such cases, one is forced to wonder if this is a “feature,” not a “bug.”) I have also worked on cases in which actual dispossessories have been granted but Mr. Sheriff just never seems to show up.

Anyway, it does appear that there are some properties that the foreclosing entity doesn’t actually want back. If I could make a judgement as to which properties those are likely to be, it would help from the standpoint of our allocation of time and adrenaline!

Thanks in advance for any feedback on this issue.

In RealtyTrac’s data, if a foreclosure was filed twice, and each time voluntarily dismissed by the lender, and if they now filed a new Lis Pendens . . . would that count as a “new” foreclosure filing, for the purposes of their data?