The paper describes how the real estate foreclosure process worked in the period 2014-21. It analyses the effects of the main regulatory changes adopted in those years to improve their management (Decree Law 83/2015, Decree Law 59/2016 and 2017 guidelines issued by the High Council of the Judiciary) using detailed information on the process sourced from the databases of the Ministry of Justice.
The analysis shows an improvement in the process over the reference period. The number of pending foreclosures dropped by 39 per cent. The regulatory changes have fostered a significant reduction in the time necessary to settle the phases of the procedures in which it is currently possible to make quantitative assessments: the median duration of the pre-sale and sale phases were shortened by almost 25 per cent and 50 per cent respectively.
