Across Florida, tens of thousands of foreclosed homes are being left in limbo, between homeowners who have abandoned them and banks that have not yet taken possession of them.

Over the past year, banks and other lenders have canceled up to 50 percent of foreclosure sales in some parts of the state, adding to a growing stockpile of unclaimed homes.

Experts fear the trend could slow the recovery of the housing market and pile more problems upon condo and homeowners associations that depend upon fees to keep up common areas and other facilities.

"It's another facet continuing the downward pricing pressures on the housing market," said Jack McCabe, a Deerfield Beach-based real estate consultant who was one of the first to predict the housing downturn.

The vast majority of foreclosed homes, until they are resold, sit in a state of neglect and depress prices for all nearby properties, McCabe said.

Pushing foreclosures through quickly used to be in the bank's best interest, so the home could be resold and the bank could recoup the equity in it.

Now, depressed housing prices mean few investors snapping up the properties at auction. And banks put off the foreclosure sales in many cases because once they take the property, they become liable for taxes, fees and maintenance, say some analysts and industry watchers.

Banks know that the homes could sit on the market for more than a year before a resale, while those costs add up, said Kermit Lind, clinical professor of law at Cleveland State University and an expert on foreclosure law.

"They may get stuck holding them for six, 18, 24 months," Lind said. "During that time, they are liable, like any other owner."

But as long as the foreclosure is pending -- and the foreclosure sale has not taken place -- the banks' ledgers show the mortgage as an asset. And the bank keeps the money it would otherwise spend on maintenance and taxes.

Representatives of the banking industry contacted by the Herald-Tribune said they are not deliberately slowing down the foreclosure process.

They say the state forced some delays by a moratorium on foreclosures enacted late last year. They also point out that new federal rescue programs require them to negotiate with homeowners before taking back a home.

Judges and defense attorneys agree the moratorium and federal rescue program have played a part in slowing foreclosures. But they say those do not account for the thousands of cases that are stalled in the courts.

Racking up fees

Lawyers for the Lake Vista Residences condominium complex in Lakewood Ranch had to repeatedly ask a judge to force the bank to take back one unit.

The owner who paid $436,400 for the condominium in 2003 walked away from it in 2007.

Since then, unpaid monthly fees and maintenance costs have topped $14,000.

The remaining Lake Vista owners are now being forced to cover for the lack of income, and a few nonessential projects around the complex have been delayed.

"It hurts a lot," said Dennis Grotke, onsite manager at the condominium complex. "It's just a big thorn in your side."

Attorneys who work in foreclosure court say there are condominium associations with half of the units in foreclosure. The longer those properties sit vacant, the more they will cost others.

"The people who are left are paying much more for the people who are paying nothing at all, including the banks," said Sarasota attorney Michelle Stellaci.

In the case of the long-abandoned unit in Lake Vista, the condo association attorney Michael Morgan had to request three times for a judge to reset the foreclosure sale because HSBC bank had canceled it.

In court paperwork, the bank said twice that it was giving the owners more time to negotiate a settlement.

But the condo owners never bothered to fight the foreclosure in court. They say they have not talked to the bank in two years.

"They're overwhelmed with empty properties," Morgan, said of the banks. "They've just figured out that's a nice little place to sit and wait."

Canceled cases

A panel of judges from across Florida are now looking into the increase in foreclosure sales cancellations.

A judge from Miami-Dade County who looked into the cancellations there recently found that 50 percent of the sales had been put off.

Court officials in Sarasota County say they cannot track how many foreclosure sales have been canceled.

The flood of foreclosures filed after the housing market downturn in 2006 has overwhelmed the court system, and some properties have been in foreclosure since 2007.

Statewide, there have been 1.1 million foreclosure cases filed, according to real estate analysis firm RealtyTrac.

In Sarasota and Manatee counties, there have been 46,000 foreclosure cases filed since the beginning of 2008.

The 12th Judicial Circuit put in rules to slow down foreclosures for homesteaded properties, and forced banks to file the proper paperwork and talk to homeowners.

At the same time, the courts have started a "rocket docket" to speed up the sale of properties where nobody shows up to defend the property and there are no obvious legal issues.

But the system has no way to automatically check to make sure properties set for foreclosure sale are actually being auctioned off to a new owner.

Foreclosure sales are set by a judge but can be canceled by the lender for any number of reasons. And once it is put off one time, the case does not go back to court unless the bank wants it to.