Live Florida

Bankruptcy Claiming Some Florida Real Estate Firms

If you want proof that the Florida real estate market has hit a snag in certain areas, you shouldn’t have to look much further than the bankruptcy filings from a numbers of real estate firms. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Middle District of Florida already has handled 24 cases this year.

Twenty-four companies have filed for bankruptcy in the three-county area since late October, claiming assets of $12.4 million and debts of $22.2 million, according to data from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Florida.

That compares with 12 companies that filed for bankruptcy protection, claiming assets of $12.3 million and debts of $94.3 million, during the same period a year ago.

I’d say that’s a pretty good indication of how far some of the values of land, real estate holdings, and real estate have fallen.

Don’t expect a quick fix to the problem, either. “The number of bankruptcies will continue to go up and up,” said John Cole, a Sarasota bankruptcy attorney. “They won’t go down for maybe a year or two.”