Citi’s South Florida Foreclosures Near $700 Million in 2008

Considering the nearly $700 million in foreclosure exposure that Citigroup has in South Florida alone, it is not hard to understand why the New York financial giant just introduced a new Homeowner Assistance Program to keep borrowers in their homes.

Citigroup and its subsidiaries have filed 2,742 foreclosures actions worth $694 million of troubled loans against South Florida properties in the first three quarters of 2008, according to a report by Condo Vultures® LLC compiled using government records.

Broward County, where Fort Lauderdale is located, represents the greatest concentration of Citigroup foreclosures in South Florida with 1,148 actions totaling $276 million.
Miami-Dade County is second with 812 actions totaling $220 million, and Palm Beach County is third with 782 actions totaling $199 million, according to the report.

Citigroup unveiled its strategy on Nov. 11 to preemptively contact 500,000 borrowers nationwide with mortgages of about $20 billion to discuss a series of options in hopes of keeping them in their homes.

“Under our new Citi Homeownership Assistance program we will preemptively reach out to help homeowners before they become delinquent, which is critical to avoiding the loss of a home and protecting their credit score and future borrowing potential," said Sanjiv Das, CEO of CitiMortgage in a statement.

In the first nine month of this year through Sept. 30, there have been nearly 56,000 foreclosures actions filed in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties. An additional 19,000 properties (also known as Real Estate Owned) are now in the hands of the bank after a lengthy foreclosure process, according to Condo Vultures® LLC.

Peter Zalewski is a principal with the consulting company Condo Vultures® LLC and a licensed real estate broker with Condo Vultures® Realty LLC. Peter can be reached at 305-865-5629 or by email at peter@condovultures.com. Be sure to check out Peter’s blog at CondoDump.com. Don't forget to sign up for our weekly Market Intelligence Report. Looking for a property at a deep discount? You are encouraged to take a peek at the Vultures Database™ .

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