With Halloween upon us, a blog posting on “vampire” foreclosures seemed appropriate. RealtyTrac has coined the term phrase in a new report to describe a growing number of homes across the U.S. that have been seized by a bank, but are still lived in by the original owners. An estimated 47 percent of bank-owned homes across the nation are still occupied by the previous owner. In some cities such as Miami, Los Angeles, Houston and Chicago, up to 65 percent of bank-owned homes are considered vampire foreclosures.
These vampire foreclosures along with the 20 percent of foreclosures known as “zombies,” where a homeowner has abandoned the property during the foreclosure process will eventually be put on the market. According to Vice President of RealtyTrac, Daren Blomquist, “this distressed inventory is artificially being held back so that in the short-term, it is helping boost the home prices and the housing market recovery in general. But the red flag is that eventually these homes are going to have to hit the market.”
At some point, banks will want to sell these properties, particularly as home prices increase. Combining the vampires, which number 250,000 nationwide, with the zombies, which number about 150,000, you have about 400,000 homes hitting the market. That’s about 10 percent of the current volume of home sales.
This will not only cause problems for the housing sector, but also the families living in them. Oftentimes, the former homeowners are still in the homes because the bank has given them 90 days to leave. They may also be in the home as they fight the foreclosure, because they believe they were improperly foreclosed upon.
The banks may also simply be allowing the homeowner to stay in an attempt to avoid the cost of maintaining the property. Blomquist predicts that as home prices rise and banks become more stable, banks will be more motivated to deal with these homes and proceed with evictions.
Click here to read more on “vampire” foreclosures damaging the housing market.
Choosing the right attorney can make the difference between whether or not you can keep your home. A well-qualified Miami foreclosure defense attorney will not only help you keep your home, but they will be able to negotiate a loan that has payments you can afford. Miami foreclosure defense attorney Timothy Kingcade has helped many facing foreclosure alleviate their stress by letting them stay in their homes for at least another year, allowing them to re-organize their lives. If you have any questions on the topic of foreclosure please feel free to contact me at (305) 285-9100. You can also find useful consumer information on the Kingcade & Garcia website at www.miamibankruptcy.com.