How to Get Away with Foreclosures? Ask Lee County
Thursday, September 18th, 2008
Lee County real estate market is submerged in open foreclosure cases of over 22,000. This county has to send surplus dollars to the state from the fees to work on foreclosure homes. Charlie Green, Clerk of Courts is already prepared to hold back about $200,000 to $300,000 from court fees and foreclosure to make a clearing on the backlogs rather than pay the state revenue. Apart from foreclosure, this money is obtained from fees of civil and criminal lawsuits, probate, divorces, and a part of traffic fines. Green has said:
“If we can do it and there is no other way, then I have no choice but to withhold funds to get these cases adjudicated”
The office of the county clerk keeps the amount for meeting its various requirements and sends the rest as surplus dollars to the state. It has been found that the tally from this county is as large as $18.3 million over the past 3 years. Out of this, about $6 million comes from foreclosure fees. The surplus money that the state takes is divided among its 69 counties to aid them in running their courts. Even there are some counties that get a higher share as they are small and therefore are unable to cover up their expenses.
Green saw a 1,769 percent hike in the number of foreclosures over the past 2 years. Over the past three years, the number of foreclosures cases has increased from 1,606 in 2005-2006 to about 22,243 in 2007-2008. Linda Doggett who is the director of county courts department said, “We have been the largest donor county in terms of how much money we give the state,” Out of the total number of 32,983 foreclosure homes that have been filed over the past three years, only 35 percent or so have been litigated.
It cannot be said what exactly the repercussions will be if Greens goes for holding back the money. According to the spokeswoman for the state Department of Revenue Renee Watter, the surplus fees of the county are due by the end of December to the state. Other than the real estate, the problem of foreclosure homes is also having bad effects on other county services. It has led to deterioration in property. Besides, there lingers a fear of uncertainty among the people.
Green has also gone to the Lee County Board of Commissioners to explain the problem before them. He said:
“I wanted the board to be aware this is not a court problem. This is a county problem. People need to see we’re not sitting on our thumbs. It’s like pushing a boulder up a hill with your nose. It hurts. It’s tiring.”
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