End in sight for the foreclosure epidemic?

The foreclosure crisis continued across South Florida in 2010, but housing analysts and legal experts disagree on whether sorely needed relief is coming in 2011.
More than 100,000 homes were in some stage of foreclosure in Broward and Palm Beach counties last year, part of a record 2.9 million foreclosures nationwide, according to RealtyTrac, an Irvine, Calif.-based foreclosure listing firm.
“We’re working our way through a huge backlog, and there’s no reason to think 2011 will be much different than 2010 or 2009,” said Guy Cecala, publisher of Inside Mortgage Finance, an industry newsletter. “I think we’re looking at 2012 before we see any significant improvement.”
But Roy Oppenheim, a Weston defense attorney, insists foreclosures will decline sharply this year.
He said lawyers for lenders already are more careful about filing cases, mindful of sanctions being handed down by judges angry about improper procedures in some cases that led to foreclosure moratoriums this fall.
“Bank counsel is very reluctant to proceed with foreclosures unless the I’s are dotted and the T’s are crossed,” Oppenheim said. “Banks will not find lawyers to do what was done last year and in years past.”

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