Foreclosures swamping county, courts

MANATEE — An abandoned, boarded-up duplex in the heart of Pride Park that has been in foreclosure for more than two years does nothing to live up to its neighborhood’s name.

Even though its former owner has declared bankruptcy — forfeiting the property to the bank that now owns it — the foreclosure remains an open case in Manatee’s court system.

It sits as a sign of blight at the corner of Fifth Street East and 60th Avenue Drive East, in a neighborhood already struggling with drugs, gangs and other crime, with no action taken on it in the courts since September 2009.

It is one step away from foreclosure proceedings being completed, with a sale at auction. But the California bank that owns the home’s title, OneWest Bank, has not asked a judge for a sale.

So the home remains in the name of its original owner, a Sarasota woman named Gloria De La Roche, who long ago gave up her right to the property.

“It is a very simple process to complete this case, but for some reason the bank has not done so yet,” said Sarasota attorney James Kompothecras, who handled the bankruptcy for De La Roche.

With more than 6,000 foreclosures in Manatee in 2009, it is one example of a mounting crisis in Manatee of abandoned homes dotting the county landscape in various states of disrepair. Officials say complaints are rolling in from residents fed up with the eyesores and terrified by the crime they breed.

Some report squatters, some report illegal drug use and prostitution, some report overgrown lawns, broken windows and exposed pools, according to Ann Marie Harper, of Manatee County’s Nuisance Abatement Department.

Abandoned homes are in every neighborhood, in many places several to a block.

Most foreclosed properties bring with them a quagmire of paperwork that must be sifted through to even get to the point where someone is willing to perform basic maintenance and security for a property.

“Every foreclosure is different so it makes it very difficult and time consuming,” Harper said.

The mass of abandoned homes in Manatee has been created by a snowball effect of a clogged court system that has never dealt with such an explosion of foreclosure filings, coupled with little to no ability for the county and cities to hold owners accountable for upkeep of their properties — whether it be an individual or lender.

It is a problem that has officials in government and the court system admitting they are overwhelmed, and in need of legislation, funding and manpower to begin processing open foreclosure cases, while forcing property owners to clean up and secure their properties.

A ‘tsunami’ of foreclosures

Two major players in the housing crisis agree that a court system choked with foreclosures is having a major effect on getting these abandoned properties repaired and back on the market. But court officials and banking advocates disagree on the reason why the cases aren’t making their way through the system faster.