St. Petersburg, Florida – Yesner & Boss, a leading Central Florida law firm in the areas of mortgage assistance, bankruptcy and asset protection, has added two attorneys to expand services to clients caught up in the nation’s complex mortgage markets. This will be especially important as the economic tidal wave that swamped residential real estate sweeps toward the commercial market.

Commercial property values have fallen 35 percent since October 2007, according to Moody’s Investors Service, making it difficult for owners to refinance almost $165-billion of mortgages for everything from small stores to skyscrapers. If those properties can’t be sold, foreclosures could become the crisis for the commercial real estate market it continues to be for residential real estate.

The addition by Yesner & Boss of associates Vincent C. LoBue and Paul M. Silvestri significantly increases the capabilities of the firm (www.YesnerBoss.com).

“Bringing on additional attorneys allows us to expand our client base, take on more complex cases and add even more value to all our clients,” said Shawn Yesner, a partner in Yesner & Boss.

The rate of foreclosures in Florida remains staggering. Between August and September, Florida recorded nearly 344,000 new foreclosures of all kinds, according to RealtyTrak, a real estate monitoring firm.

“With foreclosures remaining high and bankruptcies nearly back to the epidemic scale of 2005, creditors are becoming increasingly aggressive in collecting debts,” Yesner said. “In many cases, this activity goes beyond what the law allows. It’s not just homeowners. Commercial landlords are experiencing high vacancy rates, which could lead to increased commercial foreclosures. Our addition of two skilled attorneys will allow us to respond to those needs.”

LoBue received a law degree from Stetson University College of Law and is a member of the Florida and New Jersey Bar Associations. LoBue’s practice includes foreclosure defense, consumer protection litigation and asset protection.

Silvestri, also a Stetson graduate, is a member of the Florida Bar Association. Silvestri’s practice includes foreclosure defense and consumer protection cases.

Below is a recent article written by Robert Trigaux of the St. Petersburg Times regarding Tampa's recent decline in foreclosures filed.

Wake up and good morning. Las Vegas posted the nation’s highest metro foreclosure rate in the third quarter, new RealtyTrac data show, but plenty of Florida metro areas were not far behind. The red portions of the map above show the parts of the country with the highest concentrations of foreclosure activity, specifically 10 to 99 housing units per foreclosure filing.

In Florida, the Cape Coral-Fort Myers and Port St. Lucie metro areas ranked in the top 10 in concentration of foreclosure filings. Interestingly, Orlando-Kissimmee ranked 11th nationally, notable because of the metro area's size. Tampa Bay, in contrast, ranked 34th. Tallahassee ranked 85th, lowest in Florida of the 203 metro areas listed by RealtyTrac. Said James J. Saccacio, RealtyTrac CEO:

“Rising unemployment and a new variety of mortgage resets continued to gradually shift the nation’s foreclosure epicenters in the third quarter away from the hot spots of the last two years and toward some metro areas that had avoided the brunt of the first foreclosure wave. While toxic subprime mortgages drove much of that first wave of foreclosures, high unemployment and exotic Alt-A Option ARMs are spreading the foreclosure flood to more metro areas in 2009.”

Note how Jacksonville's foreclosure rate has ballooned 64 percent in the past year while Tampa Bay's has dropped nearly 5 percent.

Below are the top 10 metro areas in the country based on that criteria, plus a list of where Florida metro areas rank nationally for the third quarter of 2009.

Here's how the ranking is listed.

Metro: % foreclosed, foreclosed rate per x homes, 1 yr change

United States: 0.73%, 136,  22.50%

1. Las Vegas-Paradise, Nev.: 5.13%,  20,  53.62%

2.  Merced, Calif.: 3.72%,  27, -11.12%
 
3. Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Fla.: 3.67%,  27, -2.19%

4. Stockton, Calif.: 3.53%, 28, -3.05%

5. Modesto, Calif.: 3.39%, 30, -0.12%

6. Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Calif.: 3.37%, 30, 11.83%

7. Bakersfield, Calif.: 2.88%, 35, 14.25%
 
8. Vallejo-Fairfield, Calif.: 2.85%, 35, -3.37%
 
9. Reno-Sparks, Nev.: 2.67%, 37, 80.44%
 
10. Port St. Lucie, Fla.: 2.63%, 38, 40.05%

... and out of 203 national rankings, here are other Florida metro areas:

11. Orlando-Kissimmee, Fla.: 2.57%, 39, 41.92%

14. Miami-Ft Lauderdale-Pompano Beach, Fla.: 2.23%, 45, 34.67%

18. Lakeland, Fla.: 1.77%, 57, 41.49%

24. Naples-Marco Island, Fla.: 1.56%, 64, -4.49%

25. Deltona-DaytonaBeach-OrmondBeach,Fla.:  1.50%,  67,  27.70%

26. Jacksonville, Fla.: 1.48%, 68, 63.50%

27. Ocala, Fla.: 1.47%, 68, 31.06%

30. Sarasota-Bradenton-Venice, Fla.: 1.42%, 71, -6.59%
 
31. Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, Fla.: 1.40%, 71, 10.32%

34. Tampa-St.Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla.: 1.29%, 77, -4.99%

51. Pensacola-Ferry Pass-Brent, Fla.: 0.83%, 120, 23.27%
 
75. Gainesville, Fla.: 0.57%, 176, 64.74%

85. Tallahassee, Fla.: 0.52%, 191, 47.52%

-- Robert Trigaux, Times Business Columnist