The Bradenton Herald reports from Florida. "A record 372 foreclosure actions were filed against Manatee homes in November, the Manatee County Clerk of Circuit Court's office reported Friday. That shattered the previous monthly record, just set in October, and pushed this year's record-setting total to 2,254 cases. Very Reyna, a clerk who handles foreclosure actions as they are filed, had only one word for it: 'Overwhelming.'"

"'Every day we get a load of cases dropped off and it usually takes us until the next morning to get through them,' she said. 'By the time we're done, the next load's here.'"

"'Foreclosures are still happening for the same reason they've always happened: loss of a job, death and divorce,' said said Rich Workman, president of the Florida Association of Mortgage Brokers. What's different now is that the homes' market value has fallen below what is owed, Workman said. Hurting the most are those who bought at the housing boom's height, he said."

"A sizable portion is speculators who did just that, said Pete Minarich, a CTX Mortgage Co. branch manager in Bradenton. 'There are a lot of people simply choosing not to make payments'' and walking away to limit their losses, he said."

"Gilbert Smith, a bankruptcy and collections attorney in Bradenton, said local foreclosure filings might drop in December as lenders hold off because of the holiday season, but likely will return to high levels in January."

"Workman said foreclosures won't drop until property values start going up. Until then, he half-jokingly urged Floridians to pray for snow - in hopes of persuading winter-weary northerners to look southward."

"'If they have a bad winter, we'll have a great spring,' he said."

The Sun Sentinel. "It's the neighbors who must make up the money when condo owners don't pay their share of maintenance fees and special assessments. And while failing to pay isn't a new problem, it seems to be happening more frequently now, callers tell the South Florida Sun-Sentinel's condo line."

"Many of the delinquents are investors walking away from property, or owners who can't afford adjustable-rate mortgage payments that have ballooned."

"At the Deerfield Lake condo in Deerfield Beach, 18 of the 75 owners have stopped paying since earlier this year. They are angry over a $1,400 special assessment imposed by the board to renovate roofs on the covered parking areas. They have refused to pay that as well."

"Gregory Ward, a Fort Lauderdale attorney, is seeing similar problems throughout South Florida as a result of associations having to file liens and foreclosures against so many owners."

"'Anecdotally, we've been hearing of a lack of timely repairs and problems with the day-to-day operations, such as garbage removal, because boards are now so preoccupied with collecting that they can't administer the property,' he said."

The Naples News. "It took a few weeks, but local government money managers throughout Collier County have pulled at least $78.6 million out of a state-operated investment fund. And they aren’t alone."

"Local government money managers around Florida have taken out nearly $10 billion, about 40 percent, of the pool’s assets after its mortgage-backed holdings were downgraded."

"'We had been pulling money out since the rush on the foreclosures took place,' Collier County Clerk of Courts Dwight Brock said Friday. 'We foresaw there would be a rush. When everyone started pulling out, it was sort of like Black Friday in the Depression.'"

The News Press. "Officials representing hundreds of local governments with their money locked in a state fund frozen 24 hours earlier tuned in to a Friday afternoon conference call with a 16-member advisory board and staff of the State Board of Administration."

"They rejected SBA efforts to survey depositors on what losses they can stomach, and instead demanded to deliver a message to Gov. Charlie Crist and SBA trustees CFO Alex Sink and Attorney General Bill McCollum seeking reassurances of state support and confidence."

"Crist and trustees of the State Board of Administration are to meet again Tuesday to consider whether to allow at least emergency withdrawals, and how to deal with continued jitters over $2 billion in mortgage-backed investments held by the fund."

"'One or two cows start running then the stampede begins,' said Richard Pinsky, representing local housing authorities that now have $22.6 million in operating funds and investments they can't touch."

"'Had we all just held tight, most likely no one would have lost a nickel,' said Polk County Clerk of Courts Richard Weiss, who admits he was at the front of the pack in the run by withdrawing $450 million earlier this month."

"The largest remaining player in the investment pool is Florida's state-run property insurer, Citizens Property Insurance. The insurer has $1.9 billion in the frozen fund. Spokesman Rocky Scott said there is no immediate need for the assets, but Citizens had been forced to withdraw from the investment pool to keep pace with the diminishing fund."

"The insurer's own investment guidelines require that it hold no more than 10 percent of the state pool. Otherwise, it can afford to wait for its money."

"'Capital preservation for us is most important,' said Citizens' CFO Sharon Binnun."

The Palm Beach Post. "The pool offered slightly better returns than money market funds and established a track record of safety, making it a no-brainer for government officials such as Palm Beach County Treasurer Jim Beard."

"However, the pool became less of a no-brainer a couple of months ago, when Beard noticed that the so-called asset-backed securities in the fund's portfolio put it at risk of being hurt by the mortgage market's meltdown."

"Beard said he grew suspicious as the state fund's yields ballooned to 5.5 percent in August and 5.7 percent in September, well above the rates paid by money market funds."

"'How is this possible?' Beard recalled wondering."

"Beard and other investment specialists in the county's clerk and comptroller's office began questioning state board officials about mortgage-related risks. Uncomfortable with their answers, Beard decided to look elsewhere for a haven for the county's money."

The Herald Tribune. "Another Manatee County bank has been slammed by the real estate downturn. First Priority Bank of Bradenton posted a loss of $4.8 million in the third quarter as its bad loans soared by more than 500 percent. The loss is a major hit for a bank of First Priority's size."

"First Priority already is looking to raise additional capital through a stock sale, President George Najmy said Friday. 'I don't think anybody anticipated the real estate market to take as severe a downturn as it did,' he said."

"The bulk of the problem loans involve residential real estate acquisition and development projects, he said, with 8 to 10 loans ranging from $2 million to $4 million. The bank was one of the area's most aggressive lenders when times were good. Najmy said the bank has stopped acquisition and development lending."

"'With the economy turning, that growth is coming back to bite us a bit,' he said."

"First Banks Inc. of St. Louis completed its purchase Friday of floundering Coast, paying a rock-bottom price of $12.1 million, or $1.86 per share. That is $10 million less than the First Bank's original offer, a sign that Coast's loan problems had deepened in recent weeks."

"First Banks will move quickly to jettison the Coast name, which some say represents one of the biggest business busts in Manatee County history."

"Coast's shareholders voted Monday to sell to First Banks, even though they did not know what the final price would be. In the merger agreement signed in August, $1.86 per share was the lowest the price could sink before either bank could back out of the deal."

"The 71/2-year-old bank had little choice but to sell at any price, given its crippled financial condition and damaged reputation since the loan crisis was revealed in January. The stock was trading at $16 before the problems surfaced. At that price, Coast would have fetched $104 million."

"First Banks will take on more than $80 million in bad loans, more than 100 borrower lawsuits, and a federal lawsuit by shareholders who claim they were bilked by Coast officials who masked the bank's troubled condition."

"Many of its overdue loans involve borrowers with investment homes who stopped making payments when their builders went out of business and left unfinished homes."

"As the housing market continues its retreat, developer William Vernon is soldiering forward with his Rivé Isle project in Manatee County."

"He has simply invested way too much to back down now."

"Vernon, a Longboat Key resident with upscale housing projects across Florida, has spent $30 million developing the Rivé Isle Golf and Nautical Estates and more than four years cutting red tape to get it approved."

"The time may not be ripe for even more $1 million homes in the region, but Vernon is convinced he has a product like no other, and the long, arduous road he has traveled to develop the project is fueling his 'market-be-damned' attitude."

"It is anyone's guess when the project will be fully built out and populated. 'If it was back three, four years ago, I'd probably say a couple of years. People were buying anything and everything,' Vernon said. 'Now, they're a little more careful.'"

"That reality has struck many area developers as sales have stalled or halted in a number of high-profile developments."

"The SevenShores project, for example, announced earlier this year it would suspend sales and offer deposit refunds for its 352-acre development on Perico Island. That followed an earlier price cut as high as 22 percent for some units."

"Vernon has had to reassess his own pricing. Less than a year ago, Rivé Isle announced that the minimum asking price for a lot and home was $1.5 million. Today, it is $1 million."

"Vernon may be in a better position than some developers to weather the current economic storm. He bought the land for River Wilderness and Rivé Isle in the mid-1990s for a now-paltry $6 million."

"It could prove to be a bumpy ride. The median sales price for homes in the Sarasota and Bradenton markets has dropped more than $100,000 since it was about $350,000 at the start of 2006. Inventory remains high across the region, including for high-end developments like Vernon's."