The chief judge of the Pinellas-Pasco counties court system hopes 2010 will bring relief for judges as well as consumers and lenders caught in the growing morass of the worst foreclosure crisis in the nation.
"It's almost 2,000 foreclosure cases alone per judge to handle," said Chief Judge J. Thomas McGrady of Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court.
As 2009 drew to a close, foreclosure cases were stacking up twice as fast as judges could resolve them, McGrady said.
The workload for the judges, who handle all kinds of civil cases, has nearly tripled because foreclosures have roughly doubled every year for the past few years.
If you add foreclosures to other civil matters, judges in Pinellas and Pasco are struggling to keep up and in many cases are falling behind.
"It's now over 3,400 cases per judge," McGrady said.
The Florida Supreme Court recently offered one solution in a court order that essentially calls for mandatory mediation for homesteaded properties before the legal process of foreclosures can begin.
The order sets up a system of mediation management and shifts the cost burden to lenders to encourage homeowners to renegotiate loans rather than simply giving up and walking away.
"The mediation system is a win-win for both sides if they come in good faith," McGrady said.
McGrady initiated a similar voluntary mediation program in October to help divert some cases from courts in the 6th Circuit and hopes the Supreme Court order will take more pressure off the justice system.
There are more than 23,000 open foreclosures in Pinellas and Pasco counties, McGrady said.
The Supreme Court estimates the number of open foreclosures in Florida is 456,000.
The only real solution is for the foreclosure situation to ease, McGrady said.
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