The housing crisis is slowly improving, and many people are finding it easier to stay in their homes. However, the crisis hit deep across Florida, and the sunshine state continues to struggle to deal with a higher than average home foreclosure rate. Although there is still a measure of hardship, new numbers shed some light on improvements.
Palm Beach County saw a dramatic decrease in the number of home foreclosure rates, compared to last year. The rate of filings fell 73 percent from last May. Broward County also saw a decrease in filings, that was noted as 75 percent less compared to last May.
The trend toward a decreased number of filings has continued for 10 months. Over Florida as a whole, home foreclosure rates fell 30 percent. Despite these drops in the number of homes that are foreclosed upon, Florida still ranks at the top, compared to foreclosure rates for every other state in the country.
While Florida is still reeling from being hit the hardest by the housing market crash, the signs of recovery have given homeowners a ray of hope that the crisis is in the past. However, there are still homeowners who are having a difficult time financially and who are trying to avoid home foreclosure through any reasonable means possible. For those who are in need of help, there are a number of legal options that may assist them in staying in their homes, such as loan modifications or certain types of bankruptcy protection, which may help homeowners reorganize their debt under the approval and supervision of the court.
Source: Sun Sentinel, “Foreclosure filings decline in May”, Paul Owers, June 10, 2014