FORT PIERCE — For three months this year, the seemingly endless stream of new foreclosure lawsuits coming into the St. Lucie County Clerk of Court’s civil office appeared to be slowing.

The number of new filings had dropped to 625 in March, 455 in April and 567 in May, all down from February’s 817.

Clerk of Court Joe Smith said his staff wondered if perhaps, after about two years of watching boxes of paperwork arrive day after day, things were finally improving in St. Lucie County.

Then came June: 857 new foreclosure filings, the highest one-month total this year, and just below the 897 recorded in June 2008.

“We’re dealing with new boxes every day,” Smith said, who noted that some staff members now work at night so as to push through filings without the distraction of ringing phones and customers.

Construction-fueled St. Lucie, which four years ago saw its biggest city, Port St. Lucie, named the “fastest-growing city in the country,” has been especially hard hit by the recession.

About 6,665 homes were in some stage of foreclosure in St. Lucie in the first half of 2009, up about 22 percent from 2008, according to real estate research firm RealtyTrac Inc.

Statewide, 268,064 homes were in foreclosure, up 42 percent from the first half of 2008.

New filings so far this year reached 4,565 as of last week, Smith said. That compares to just 485 cases for the whole of 2005, when Port St. Lucie earned its national recognition for rapid-fire growth.

July’s new filings — about 451 as of last week — seems likely to reach June’s level, he said.

“It really doesn’t show signs of stopping,” he said.

Tags: foreclosures, Fort Pierce, St. Lucie County

This entry was posted on Monday, July 27th, 2009 at 4:15 pm and is filed under Courts, Economy, Fort Pierce, St. Lucie County. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.