Foreclosures in 2011

According to RealtyTrac, foreclosure notices were filed on 1,887,777 homes (one in every 69 homes) in the U.S. in 2011, a 34% decline from 2010, which itself had an artificially low number of foreclosures filed because banks halted foreclosures in October 2010. Foreclosure activity in 2011 was also 33% below 2009 levels and 19% below 2008 levels.

We have a dysfunctional foreclosure system in which banks are not processing foreclosures at an acceptable rate. It is unclear what the banks' long-term plan is with the homes they own through foreclosure, but a key part of our recovery is to get these homes back onto the market and purchased. The government's plan to allow investors to buy portfolios of foreclosed properties to turn into rentals is not good for the rest of us. The U.S. taxpayers bailed out the banks and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and they are the ones who deserve first crack at the foreclosed properties.