SARASOTA, Fla. (AP) — Property foreclosures jumped 27 percent in southwest Florida recently and experts say the rise could be from a surge in filings from Bank of America.
The Sarasota Herald-Tribune says Bank of America logged 118 early stage foreclosures in September and announced at the same time that it would offer certain homeowners $20,000 to sell their homes through short sales.
Across Florida, filings were up 2 percent from August. Experts say this could be a signal Bank of America has learned from the robo-signing crisis and now knows which of its loans have the appropriate paperwork to proceed to foreclosure.
A nationwide halt of foreclosures happened after it was discovered that big banks and mortgage companies used fake signatures on thousands of documents.
Source: Associated Press