Lynn Effinger, EVP at ZVN Properties [1] and a veteran of the mortgage servicing industry, recently moderated a special panel session on the fast-tracking of the foreclosure process on vacant and abandoned properties. The panel was held at the 12th Annual National REO Brokers Association (NRBA) Education Conference in Broomfield, Colorado.
The panel focused on the issue of fast-tracking foreclosures, which ZVN CEO Bryan Lysikowski explained could help lower neighborhood blight, decrease crime, and increase property values by clearing foreclosures that are stuck in the foreclosure process for long periods of time in judicial states.
"The dramatic increase in foreclosures and the associated attempts by the administration to forestall them and keep as many people in their homes for as long as possible after the housing bubble burst in 2007 created a backlog of foreclosures nationwide," Lysikowski said.
He continued, "In states that have judicial, rather than non-judicial foreclosure processes this backlog is even more pronounced and the need to fast-track the foreclosure process on vacant, abandoned properties has become an important topic within the mortgage servicing industry and among states, counties and municipalities across the country."
Effinger commented that the topic of fast-tracking foreclosures should be of interest to real estate brokers in particular as foreclosure properties can provide more opportunities to list and sell homes in a timely manner.
"Our main objective as members of the mortgage default servicing industry is to make every effort to work ourselves out of our jobs," Effinger said.
"While that will no doubt not actually happen, it remains a major goal to manage, market, sell and close on these foreclosed properties in a timely fashion to help our clients remove these non-performing real estate assets from their books and stabilize neighborhoods. The ability to fast-track the foreclosure process on vacant, abandoned properties greatly contributes to our achieving that goal," he added.