Every time we get the monthly foreclosure numbers from RealtyTrac, I hear someone on TV say, ‘Well, the problem is really only concentrated in a handful of states.”

Yes, the volumes are, the problems are not.

Take a read from the RealtyTrac release:

“Five states accounted for 51 percent of U.S. foreclosure activity in May, led by California, where 51,906 properties received a foreclosure filing during the month.

A total of 19,192 Florida properties received a foreclosing filing in May, the second highest state total despite a 62 percent decrease from May 2010

A total of 14,614 Michigan properties received a foreclosure filing in May, the third highest state total, followed by Arizona, with 13,122 properties receiving a foreclosure filing during the month, and Nevada, with 11,039 properties receiving a foreclosure filing during the month.

Other states with foreclosure activity totals among the nation’s 10 highest in May were Illinois (10,574), Georgia (10,503), Texas (9,055), Ohio (8,379), and Wisconsin (4,660).”

I would argue that despite these numbers, the foreclosure crisis affects every market in every state in the nation, due to the direct correlation to falling home prices.

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Too many foreclosures and too little time.

That was the impetus behind the so-called “rocket docket” in Florida, where judges could blow through a thousand cases a day.

And they had to, given a backlog of close to 40,000 foreclosures.

It was an experiment that began at the very end of December of 2008 in Lee County, Florida, the hardest hit county in the state. Retired judges came back to work, and the cases started to move. Then it went into full swing about a year ago in four other counties.

Now with a backlog of “just 8000 cases,” Lee County court clerk Charlie Green confirms the money for the program runs out at the end of June. I spoke with Green a few years ago, when the program started, and then again this morning. The desperation I remember in his voice is now gone.

“We are absorbing a lot of the foreclosed properties, and hopefully as the job market improves, that will improve,” Green tells me.

He describes an all-cash market in his county, where he also points to a strong tourist season. His big concern is about who will be employed and for how long. He would still like to see more retiree interest from back East and a bigger second-home demand.

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