ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) - A new report says Florida has the highest number of "zombie" foreclosures, or foreclosures where the house has sat empty, of any state in the country.
The report released Friday by the research firm RealtyTrac says that Florida had almost 36,000 "zombie" foreclosures at the end of last month. That is about a 35 percent decrease from a year ago.
"Zombie" foreclosures accounted for about a quarter of all foreclosures in the state.
Nationwide, "zombie" foreclosures are down from a year ago, but they also represent a larger share of foreclosures.
RealtyTrac vice president Daren Blomquist says that's because "zombie" foreclosures tend to be the problem cases still "stuck in the pipeline."
