More than 300,000 U.S. homes are foreclosed 'zombies,' study says

A national survey found 301,874 “zombie” properties dotting the U.S. landscape in which homeowners in foreclosure have moved out, leaving vacant property susceptible to vandalism and degradation.

Florida tops the list of zombie properties with 90,556 vacant homes in foreclosure, according to a foreclosure inventory released Thursday by RealtyTrac, a real estate information company in Irvine, Calif.

Illinois and California ranked a distant second and third with 31,668 and 28,821 zombie properties respectively on the list.

Iowa came out very far down the list, with 1,961 houses, a RealtyTrac spokeswoman said.

The number of homes overall in foreclosure or bank-owned rose by 9 percent, to 1.5 million properties, nationally in the first quarter of 2013 compared to a year ago, according to RealtyTrac.

Another 10.9 million homeowners nationwide remain at risk because they owe more than their property is worth, according to company Vice President Daren Blomquist.

Some property owners don't realize that their names remained on the deed, and that they were financially liable for taxes and other bills related to the abandoned property. In some cases, homeowners vacated after receiving a notice from the bank of a planned foreclosure sale, only to find out later the bank never followed through.

Zombie properties can be easy to spot as they deteriorate into neighborhood eyesores and havens for criminal activity.

While Florida leads in volume of zombie properties, Kentucky, with less than 1,000 zombie properties, leads in percentage, with zombies representing 54 percent of its total foreclosure inventory, Blomquist said.

Unsuspecting homeowners have had their wages garnished, their credit destroyed and their tax refunds seized. They've opened their mail to find bills for back taxes, graffiti-scrubbing services, demolition crews, trash removal, gutter repair, exterior cleaning and lawn clipping.

In some cities, people with zombie titles can be sentenced to probation, with the threat of jail if they don't bring their houses into compliance.