The state you live is a high determining factor that will dictate the 
expediency of a foreclosure process. Some states boast an average timeline that only takes three months while others median timeline is three years. This disparity between states continues to grow. One factor is attributed to being the cause for this great difference: judicial oversight.
Judicial Overview:
States like Florida and New York maintain a system of judicial oversight in order to give their citizens the opportunity of a greater due process. In theory, this sounds like it is a positive for those undergoing the painful foreclosure process, but in reality the staff responsible for giving more attention to each foreclosure is skeletal at best. In many states, a judge will work solo through all the paperwork, deadlines, and rigorous series stages needed to finalize a foreclosure judicial overview.
"What we don't have are the people behind the scenes to help prepare the enormous amount of paperwork, to set the calendars, to drill down into the statistics to see which cases are languishing so we can move those ahead on the docket," Haworth, a Florida judge, says. "That key infrastructure is missing."
Three solutions exist. First, as Florida is doing, states can increase their budget in order to more adequately staff the offices addressing backlogged foreclosures. Second, some states turned to robo-signing, a scandal that rocked the real estate world a few years ago. Third, states can opt out of the judicial overview.
No Judicial Overview:
The long, drawn out, and tedious process of foreclosures are costly for banks, lawyers, and realtors. "Point is, all of those costs are going to be going into future mortgage rates," Brinkmann, chief economist for the Mortgage Bankers Associate, says. "But they're going to be going into future mortgage rates differentially."
For states who chose not to throw the money and time into foreclosures, there is a much greater level of uncertainty for homeowners and home buyers. Due process is a feature of the American judicial system. When that is circumvented for mere convenience, well there are mixed feelings with it.
"Is there a right or a wrong way to do this? I don't know," Fleming, chief economist for CoreLogic, says. "You ask your child, how do you want your Band-Aid ripped off? Fast or slow? Some like it slow; some like it fast. It all depends on your preferences, right?"
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source: http://www.npr.org/2012/03/16/148685887/foreclosure-influx-causes-backlog-in-some-states
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