Yahoo Finance reported today that foreclosure filings, which have stalled for the better part of last year as banks tried to cope with robo-signing, lost mortgage notes, mergers & acquisitions, and the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac debacles, are now on the rebound.

Last year's stall was caused by artificial reasons - mainly political, legal and administrative. This year's rebound is the result of the thawing of some of the barriers that caused last year's freeze: banks have combed over foreclosure files looking for errors, (some) financial reforms have been enacted and, last but not least, courts cannot put off foreclosures  indefinitely - after all, there is that little thing called due process which applies equally to the plaintiff, not just the defendant.  

How well will this work for banks? I'm betting that it's not going to be all smooth sailing. Tons upon tons of mortgage notes out there are still lost and they need to be reconstituted by the banks - which practically transforms the foreclosure process into something it was not conceived to be:  a trial based on evidence, as a opposed to a liquidation procedure. Furthermore, court budgets aren't getting any better, so even if judges won't have a choice but to put foreclosures on their calendars, lack of personnel and docket time will translate into long stretches between court dates and continuances galore. In conclusion, the pace of foreclosures won't light the world on fire....  

Read the entire story at http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Mortgage-default-warnings-apf-157937671.html?x=0