"The sooner these properties get off the market, the sooner the values will start to recover. "
Exactly

Twist that a little: There will be sluggish recovery until the housing mess gets resolved. Can't buy. Can't sell. Can't move.
Stuck in the mud housing is, despite lowest rates EVER!

Here's an indication of how tough it is to borrow right now. We got a request yesterday from a mortgage lender to send them a letter confirming that a client with a 2 million dollar annual income had in fact filed the tax return we prepared (and efiled on his behalf).
Whew! How's the rest of the world ever going to qualify for mortgages to soak up this 12 month inventory???

How the Florida judges are handling it...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/10/14/AR2010101406307_2.html?hpid=topnews&sid=ST2010101406553


In Sarasota County, a little farther down the west coast, Chief Judge Lee Haworth has also made clear he doesn't want judges simply rubber-stamping foreclosures. Yet he doesn't want defense attorneys for delinquent homeowners using technical flaws in paperwork to delay justified and inevitable foreclosures.

Haworth has tried to untangle the knot several ways. First, he had his special assistant send an "urgent message" to six "foreclosure mill" law firms - including at least two that are being investigated by the Florida attorney general for unfair and deceptive practices - chiding them for failing to provide proper documents and threatening to "start dismissing these cases" if they didn't shape up.

"Your lawyers have had ample opportunity to follow the rules and our office has made repeated efforts to educate and encourage voluntary compliance," the message said. "Your firm is among the worst offenders."

Haworth said he's also ensuring that cases on the "rocket docket" are examined closely by case managers before heading to the judge.

But in most cases, Haworth - like other judges - said he must accept that the documents lawyers file in court were prepared in good faith.

And he acknowledged that Florida's judges cannot afford to tarry.

"These neighborhoods are deteriorating in the interim," he said. "The properties need to get on the market to get sold. We're not going to sit on our hands. . . . We've got to keep a steady flow going."