What the Halt on Foreclosures Means to You in Kansas City

This article from CNN Money briefly explains why several banks have put a hold on foreclosures in 23 states, including Kansas. At this time Missouri is not affected, just Kansas because of the way our foreclosures go through the court system. This freeze could affect you if you are in the process of purchasing a previously foreclosed property or if you are in the midst of going through a foreclosure proceeding.

Personally, this is affecting me. I have been working with a lovely couple who are under contract to purchase a (previously foreclosed) home next week in Kansas. We have gone through the whole buying process, and were making their moving day preparations when we found out that they would not be able to buy the home. Nobody seems to know anything and there are no answers. We do not know if or when they will be able to buy this home – it is heartbreaking. In the mean time, the home sits vacant. The previous owners are long gone.

It is no big surprise that these giant banks such as JPMorgan and Bank of America have mishandled the slew of foreclosures of the past few years. They had neither the staff nor infrastructure in place to handle them efficiently; however, this is not the answer. How can we solve problems by creating new problems? Unless this is resolved quickly, I believe this will be extremely detrimental to our real estate industry and economy this fall.