Hi Dennis,

Pinellas County’s official records system is unfortunately not very efficient, and querying documents by property can be difficult. But I was able to find the issue.

This property has two mortgages with Wells Fargo. One from 2003 recorded in Book/Page 12597/640 and another from 2012 recorded in Book/Page 17755/1295. It is possible that the bank tried to recover both outstanding balances in a single foreclosure action. That would explain why they did not release one mortgage when only one balance was being foreclosed. Internally their system may have shown a combined amount owed to the bank rather than treating each mortgage separately.

Under Florida law a lender cannot foreclose two separate mortgages in one case unless both are properly pled. They would normally need to file a separate claim for each lien. However they can voluntarily increase their plaintiff bid to cover both balances together and it is very possible that this is what they did.

Hope this clarifies your concern.

Hi Dennis

First of all, forget the idea that banks bid high to stop prices from falling. Neither Wells Fargo nor the entire financial system has the firepower to keep the whole real estate market propped up. And even if they did, there’s no logic in paying more than necessary just to “protect values.” Business is simple: buy low.

With how stressed the Florida market is right now, what I’m seeing from lenders is actually the opposite. Many are bidding below their own final judgment because they want to avoid taking more REO inventory that loses value every day they hold it.

So when a bank comes in way over the judgment amount, like Wells Fargo jumping from 133k to 250k, it usually means something specific is going on behind the scenes, not a strategy to keep prices high.

If you want, share the county and case number. I can take a look and see what might be happening in this particular file.