BofA Helps Florida Lower its Foreclosures by State Ranking

Bank of America has provided $10.7 billion to help Florida lower its foreclosures by state ranking in the first year of its $1.5-trillion ten-year community lending and investment program. It has disbursed nationwide a total of $168.2 billion in 2009, giving Florida 6.4 percent of the total first-year allocation.

The money was meant to help finance economic development projects and affordable housing programs and help increase available credit for small businesses and underserved consumers.

If the allocation is spent well, jobs will be created and communities will recover from the housing crisis. Eventually, foreclosures in Florida will slow down significantly.

In April, the number of bank reo properties for sale in Florida increased despite a decline in foreclosure filings in the state. There were 9,259 homes that entered bank listings in April, up by 7.1 percent from the 8,643 homes repossessed in March. This was in contrast to the decline in filings from more than 59,000 in March to more than 48,300 in April.

Based on pace of foreclosures by state in April, Florida was still among the top states. It even moved up the chart by one place, from fourth-place in March to third-place in April. It was California which improved its ranking, moving from second-place to fourth-place.

The bulk of the BofA money was given to South Florida, a region also loaded with record numbers of distressed properties for sale, particularly in the condo sector. A total of $3.8 billion was granted to the region, accounting for 35.5 percent of the total Florida first-year allocation.

Miami got the biggest share in the region – over $1.5 billion, with over $1.3 billion set aside for affordable housing. The share of Miami was 39.5 percent of the total South Florida allocation.

South Florida is currently struggling from record numbers of foreclosures in its condo sector. The situation has even prompted state legislators to pass a bill that would help condo associations recover from their difficulties.

Advocates hope that the money from BofA would create a lot of jobs and help lower the foreclosures by state ranking of Florida.

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• Foreclosures in Florida Most Persistent in the South
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• New Efforts to Trim Down Foreclosure Listings in Florida
• Realtors Say Prices Still Influenced by Florida Foreclosures