Foreclosure numbers in Fort Lauderdale and across the country have been holding steady and even decreasing over the last year, but the number of foreclosure notices sent to homeowners in the July and August period of this year took a sudden surge upward.

The fact that foreclosure numbers were down was not necessarily a positive sign, as reported in this blog. The fact was that the legal system was so jammed with existing cases that very few new cases could be absorbed into the system. The fact that August-over-July foreclosure numbers jumped seems to mean that the system found more capacity for new cases than was expected.

Another theory is that mortgage lenders had been waiting to begin new foreclosures until the results of settlement talks over the robo-signing scandal were known. The process has been taking so long (as also reported in this blog), that some lenders have apparently decided to stop waiting and begin more new foreclosure actions.

Fort Lauderdale "stop foreclosure" attorneys noted that RealtyTrac reported a 7 percent increase in foreclosure auctions in August when compared to July. Initial default notices increased 33 percent in August over July. More than 78,000 property owners received an initial foreclosure notice.

Even though the increases are huge, foreclosure numbers overall are not matching the 2009 peak.

In the long term, foreclosures working their way through the system will be good for the housing market. That is not much comfort to distressed homeowners, though.

There were five states that accounted for more than half of the new foreclosures, and Florida was one of them.

Source: MSN "Foreclosure filings jump 7%" Sept. 15, 2011