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Hillsborough Auctions Foreclosed Homes At Rate 'Never Seen'

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By SHANNON BEHNKEN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 5, 2008

TAMPA - There were 163 homes scheduled for sale by auction Thursday at the Hillsborough County Courthouse – more than the county has ever auctioned in a single day.

"In 13 years, I've never seen it like this," said Tamra Wondrow, owner of Foreclosure Disclosure, a Tampa foreclosure listing service.

This is despite efforts by government and some lenders to give struggling homeowners a holiday reprieve.

Lisa Pride, who works in the foreclosure division of Hillsborough County Circuit Court, said the court is swamped with work and may have other days like Thursday coming soon.

There have been about 50 sales a day for the past few months. Last year, 50 would have been a week's worth of sales.

Foreclosure sales occur Monday through Thursday.

This week, there were 104 homes scheduled for sale Tuesday, in addition to the 163 for sale Thursday. Monday and Wednesday had about 50 sales each.

Pride said the department has sales scheduled through January and is scheduling foreclosure sales for early February.

The increased activity is in stark contrast to recent efforts by government to persuade lenders to avoid foreclosure by working with homeowners.

In November, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, who together own or guarantee about $5 trillion in U.S. mortgages, agreed to hold off on foreclosure activity and sales until Jan. 9. In the meantime, they said they would look for ways to offer homeowners affordable loan modifications.

Who buys the homes sold at the courthouse?

Many homes in foreclosure have mortgages worth more than the home. Lenders often aren't willing to take what investors offer. About 85 percent of the homes sold at auction in Hillsborough are sold back to the lender.

In Thursday's sale, only nine were sold to individuals.

Pride doesn't expect business to slow in the near future.

One in every 157 homeowners statewide received a foreclosure filing in October, the third-highest state foreclosure rate, according to California-based RealtyTrac.

That's 54,324 Florida properties that received a foreclosure filing – default notice, auction sales notice or bank repossession – during the month. It's an increase of 13 percent from September and up nearly 80 percent from October 2007.

Reporter Shannon Behnken can be reached at (813) 259-7804 or sbehnken@tampatrib.com.

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