There were about 166,000 Florida foreclosure listings filed in October 2008. This high foreclosure rate has made Florida rank as the third state with highest foreclosure volume in the US. There are indications that the number of foreclosed homes in the state could continue to further increase if local governments will not immediately act to control and contain the problem. More households are expected to fall casualties of the foreclosure crisis.

The state government has inked an agreement with lenders and mortgage banks over a moratorium for foreclosures. According to the deal, the financial lenders would stop foreclosure proceedings for 45 days to give troubled and defaulting homeowners more time to prepare repayments. The state moratorium for Florida foreclosure homes is aimed at helping struggling homeowners get on through these toughest of times.

However, the timely assistance to homeowners would be strictly provided only to qualified households. The requirements needed include: proof of need for postponing mortgage payments; agreement to a modified repayment plan or mode; untainted credit history or non-involvement in any form of mortgage fraud in the past and ownership of a primary home. This way, second-hand owners of homes are not qualified nor are businesses.

The new moratorium will be the second rescue package to owners of Florida foreclosure homes. In the past months, government-sponsored mortgage providers Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae have already halted foreclosures and accompanying evictions. On top of all these efforts, the state government is also looking at distributing about $540 million to neighborhoods that have households needing assistance for foreclosures. The initiatives are all expected to help stabilize the state's rocky housing market and facilitate controlled foreclosure activities.