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54 C O V E R S T O R Y / B R I A N A . L E E Perhaps it was more than coincidence that a successful postapocalyptic television series began the year after the Great Recession ended. AMC's zombie show "e Walking Dead" has become incredibly popular, but zombie homes, which still dot and blot cities across the country years after the housing downturn and foreclosure crisis, are most certainly not. "With houses in permanent limbo, whether a zombie title or a blight-and-vacancy issue, it drives down property vaues and it destroys local government's ability to maintain basic services because the revenue is not there anymore," said Ohio State Rep. Jonathan Dever, a Cincinnati- area attorney who has worked on both sides of foreclosure cases and introduced a fast-track foreclosure bill in 2016. "It affects our schools, our neighborhoods, and is devastating for families, too." CoreLogic reported nearly 7.8 million foreclosures from 2007 through 2016, with the peak coming in January 2011. e state of Florida experienced a foreclosure rate of nearly 12.5 percent in June of that year. By comparison, the national foreclosure inventory rate was 0.8 percent in March 2017, down from 1 percent a year earlier, according to the property analytics firm. Who benefits from a foreclosure system that negatively affects so many parties? e revived housing market means not only fewer foreclosures, but also a chance for all industry players to improve process flow and apply lessons learned from the Great Recession. With new regulatory requirements, changes in costs and challenges from homeowner associations, the foreclosure market is constantly evolving. Stephen Hladik, partner at e HOF Law Group located north of Philadelphia, emphasizes the importance of establishing a better dialogue between the public and private actors to forge a process that serves the greater good. On the other hand, he points out that cities and other municipalities have become "much more aggressive" in pursuing lenders and servicers for fines and the often-exorbitant costs related to foreclosure properties, even before the The terms "fast track" and "foreclosures" don't normally go together, but several industry and government leaders are boldly stepping up to help the heavy system see the light.