Courts flooded by foreclosures

South Florida courts face a eight-fold increase in foreclosure cases from 2006, a rate that threatens to overwhelm the court system. Clerks in Miami-Dade, Broward and Monroe counties expect a total of 135,000 foreclosures for 2009, up from 17,500 in 2006. Judge Jennifer Bailey, who oversees civil courts for the 11th Judicial Circuit, which covers Miami-Dade County, said all the players are getting buried, from banks and home owners to the courts that process the suits. She said her court has the capacity to handle 35,000 cases a year, a number reached by June in foreclosures alone. [Miami Herald]