Below is a recent article written by Channel 10 Connects Writer Melissa Liberman.

Tampa, Florida - It's a real estate market in shambles, but just five years ago, things were booming.

So what went wrong? We asked a USF history professor, a Tampa realtor and a foreclosure attorney: "How did the real estate market get so bad, so fast?"

Chris Boss, foreclosure attorney said Tampa had a perfect storm of a lot of moving parts all coming together that have kind of created this situation. Chris say, "I think the fault can be spread across all parties. You had very loose lending parameters, it was very credit score oriented and even with the subprime, the joke was if you could fog a mirror, you could get a loan."

DeDe Ross, a South Tampa realtor remembers with plenty of investors and demand, that led to a need for higher supply.

DeDe says, "We went through a phase in 2006... the latter part of '05 and '06 when it became very popular to be an investor. You had people from all over, if you didn't own a home or second home in Florida, you weren't in the 'in' crowd."

The problem was more condos and more houses were built until 2008, and lending started to dry up. Higher gas prices, a cut in spending and job losses and subprime mortgages becoming due led to an eventual disaster.

So the question remains, will Florida recover? USF history professor Dr. Gary Mormino says the state always has, but hopefully this time, we've learned our lesson.

Mormino says, "Florida still has irresistible Februaries, it still has sand dunes. Florida will come back, but it will be a different Florida."

BAY NEWS 9 -- An increasing number of people going through divorce are finding themselves in tough financial situations they never anticipated as well.

Jennifer Anderson never expected to get a divorce or to deal with the financial bind she is in now.

"No, this has been unexpected, unplanned, and I'm just trying to adapt," said Anderson. "I'm trying to sell the home with a short sale and I'm having to consider bankruptcy in the future."

Anderson hired an attorney, Shawn Yesner, to help with all the paperwork.

Yesner says more and more clients are dealing with similar issues, such as foreclosure and divorce at the same time.

"It's unfortunate what's happening in the economy, but that's where we try to help," said Yesner, a partner Yesner & Boss, PL.

The Tampa Bay law firm even created a family-law division to deal with the increasing amount of cases.

"What we try to do is look at what are the family law issues and how can we accomplish their goal from a family law perspective, but also address their concerns in connection with their house that they are unable to afford to pay or unable to afford to sell," said Yesner.

One firm handling both divorce and finance cases creates a one-stop shop of legal help for people like Anderson.

"It put me at ease," said Anderson. "It was just one meeting, one person who knows everything that's going on. There was no question of, 'Well, let me consult your other attorney to see where you're at.' He had all the information which was really nice."

Click here to see the video from this report.