Florida Foreclosures Drop 42 Percent in November

The rate of foreclosure filings in Florida fell 42 percent in November from the previous month, and 38 percent from November 2009, according to a report released Thursday by Realty Trac, a California-based company that tracks foreclosed properties. Nationwide, foreclosures were down 21 percent in November from the previous month. One out of every 267 housing units received a foreclosure filing in Florida in November, and nationwide that number was one in every 492 housing units.

That doesn't mean the housing crisis is weakening, however, as the market is beginning to feel the effects of the "robo-signing" controversy that emerged in October, in which mortgage servicers hire law firms that act as foreclosure mills, rapidly signing paperwork with scant review. In some cases throughout the nation, this led to some houses being foreclosed on in error, leading some mortgage companies to halt foreclosure proceedings in several states, including Florida.

"While part of the decrease can be attributed to a seasonal drop of 7 to 10 percent that typically occurs in November, fallout from the foreclosure robo-signing controversy forced lenders and servicers to hit the pause button on many foreclosures while they scrambled to revamp their internal procedures and revise or resubmit questionable paperwork," said James Saccacio, CEO of Realty Trac.

Florida also posted just one city in the top 10 metro area foreclosure rates. Port St. Lucie came in 10th with one in every 173 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing in November. Las Vegas had the highest rate of any metro area with one in every 99 housing units having foreclosure proceedings.