Judges Sing The Theme To Rawhide As Foreclosure Defense Become Harder And Orlando Foreclosures Decline 

Metro Orlando foreclosures continue to decline. The Orlando area has had 8% fewer filings in April than a month earlier. In addition, Orlando foreclosures declined 35% fewer than a year earlier.

Real estate analyst Attom Data Solutions states Orange County saw a 46% decrease in foreclosures year-over-year.

The Orlando area averaged about a 1-in-2,000 occurrence according to Attom.

The drop in Orlando foreclosures is also driving up purchase prices. The data shows that there are fewer opportunities for bottom-feeders and deal seekers. It has also caused a 43% decrease in inventory year-over-year.

Seminole County has bucked the trend in the four-county area. The county had 125 foreclosures for the month. This is 64% higher than the previous month. However, this is still 17% fewer than a year earlier.

Foreclosures were down 17% year-over-year. Lake County’s numbers were closest in the region to the national average at 16%.

Foreclosure Defense Becomes Harder As Orlando Foreclosures Decline

Florida Circuit Court judges have made no secret of the fact they don’t want to hear foreclosure cases. Matter of fact, they don’t even hide their prejudice. One Orange County judge reportedly sang the theme to Rawhide as he was ruling in favor of a lender in a recent foreclosure case.

Florida Circuit Court judges have shown they are prejudiced against homeowners in foreclosure. I have had cases where Circuit Court judges will ignore evidence of fraud and misrepresentation by the lender or a foreclosure mill lawyer. I have also had a case where the Broward County judge ruled in favor of a lender after we proved the lender lacked standing. The ruling was later overturned by the Florida 4th DCA.

Judges are also ramming foreclosure cases through their docket faster than they did during the days of the Rocket Docket.

Homeowners with legitimate defenses are being forced to fight their foreclosures on the appellate level. This can be costly. The Florida DCA requires homeowners put up a bond for the appeal. The bond could cost the homeowner up to 1/3 of the foreclosure judgment.