Foreclosures

Although South Florida has recently shown impressive gains in home prices and sales volume, it still has a long way to go. Corelogic reported that 40.7 percent of the mortgaged homes in the greater Miami area and 39.3 percent of those in the greater Fort Lauderdale area remained underwater in the first quarter. According to the real estate data firm, that is roughly double the national average of 19.8 percent of all mortgaged homes. In Broward County, foreclosure activity spiked 112.8 percent in May from a year earlier. One of every 317 residences in Broward received some sort of foreclosure filing during May, RealtyTrac said.

Much of the foreclosure activity reflects lenders moving forward with cases that were long delayed while regulatory concerns about robo-signing and similar mishandling of delinquent loans were settled. This recent data helps to explain the lack of inventory available in South Florida at present time. Most homeowners are less likely to put their home on the market if that means having to pay out cash at the closing table.

Click here to read more on the latest foreclosure data compiled by Corelogic for South Florida.

Choosing the right attorney can make the difference between whether or not you can keep your home. A well-qualified Miami foreclosure defense attorney will not only help you keep your home, but they will be able to negotiate a loan that has payments you can afford. Miami foreclosure defense attorney Timothy Kingcade has helped many facing foreclosure alleviate their stress by letting them stay in their homes for at least another year, allowing them to re-organize their lives. If you have any questions on the topic of foreclosure please feel free to contact me at (305) 285-9100. You can also find useful consumer information on the website, www.miamibankruptcy.com.

In an increasing foreclosure trend, a number of homeowners are being taken to court by their lenders years after their houses were lost to foreclosure. Lenders are filing motions in old foreclosure lawsuits and hiring debt collectors to pursue leftover debt, plus court fees, attorneys’ fees and tens of thousands in interest that had been accruing for years. It’s all part of a legal process known as a “deficiency judgment,” which is allowed in 40 of 50 states- including Florida.

It works like this: A property with a $500,000 mortgage might be worth only $300,000 following the housing crisis. The $200,000 difference, or what’s commonly referred to as the “underwater amount,” is known to lenders as a deficiency balance. Among the lenders pursuing the judgments are Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Officials at those agencies said the judgments are necessary to recoup money lost in the housing market crisis.

Deficiency judgments are financially devastating to the foreclosed home buyer and also come with income tax consequences. Freddie Mac seems to be targeting “strategic defaulters,” which the agency defines as “someone who had the means but chose to go into default, that there were no extenuating circumstances that affected their ability to pay. If you’re choosing not to pay off your mortgage, but you’re paying other bills, this would be considered strategic default.”

Click here to read more on lenders seeking court actions against homeowners years after foreclosure with deficiency judgments.

Choosing the right attorney can make the difference between whether or not you can keep your home. A well-qualified Miami foreclosure defense attorney will not only help you keep your home, but they will be able to negotiate a loan that has payments you can afford. Miami foreclosure defense attorney Timothy Kingcade has helped many facing foreclosure alleviate their stress by letting them stay in their homes for at least another year, allowing them to re-organize their lives. If you have any questions on the topic of foreclosure please feel free to contact me at (305) 285-9100. You can also find useful consumer information on the website, www.miamibankruptcy.com.

Property values in Broward County are on the rise according to new data. Cooper City leads the way with an 8.56-percent increase in taxable value; North Lauderdale comes in second with a 7.07-percent increase. Parkland has registered a 6.20-percent increase, while Coral Springs has seen a 4.08-percent spike in value.

These new numbers confirm the worst may be behind us. Mayor Vince Boccard expects property values to increase gradually in the next few years. Interest rates remain at historic lows, which have contributed to the shrinking inventory of homes on the market and an increase in housing prices all over the country. Many people are coming to realize that it costs less to purchase a home than to rent one.

Click here to read more on the rise in property values in Broward County.

Choosing the right attorney can make the difference between whether or not you can keep your home. A well-qualified Miami foreclosure defense attorney will not only help you keep your home, but they will be able to negotiate a loan that has payments you can afford. Miami foreclosure defense attorney Timothy Kingcade has helped many facing foreclosure alleviate their stress by letting them stay in their homes for at least another year, allowing them to re-organize their lives. If you have any questions on the topic of foreclosure please feel free to contact me at (305) 285-9100. You can also find useful consumer information on the website, www.miamibankruptcy.com.

On Friday, June 7, 2013 Governor Rick Scott signed the controversial ‘fast track’ foreclosure bill. The bill is the first substantial change to Florida foreclosure laws since the burst of the real estate bubble in 2007, which pushed thousands of homeowners into default and overwhelmed the court system with foreclosures.

HB 87 requires homeowners to respond more quickly to foreclosure filings and gives community associations more power in the process. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Jack Latvala and Rep. Kathleen Passidomo, also requires lenders to have their paperwork in order before filing a foreclosure complaint. And it cuts the time period in which banks can seek a deficiency judgment against homeowners to one year from five.

Scott, along with other supporters of the bill believes it will help Florida’s economic recovery ‘by placing abandoned homes, caught up in the foreclosure backlog, back on the market.’

A major concern of opponents is the provision that gives homeowners only monetary damages if their home is foreclosed on fraudulently. The measure is meant to protect third-party buyers from losing the home after purchase, bill sponsors said. But defense attorneys and other opponents say the measure erodes time-honored property rights and is unfair to homeowners.
The law will also allow any lien holder, including community associations, to request a so-called “show cause” order that would require homeowners to present a defense more quickly and give the judge the ability to make a faster ruling.

Click here to read more on the foreclosure bill recently signed by Gov. Scott that puts Florida homeowners at a disadvantage.

Choosing the right attorney can make the difference between whether or not you can keep your home. A well-qualified Miami foreclosure defense attorney will not only help you keep your home, but they will be able to negotiate a loan that has payments you can afford. Miami foreclosure defense attorney Timothy Kingcade has helped many facing foreclosure alleviate their stress by letting them stay in their homes for at least another year, allowing them to re-organize their lives. If you have any questions on the topic of foreclosure please feel free to contact me at (305) 285-9100. You can also find useful consumer information on the website, www.miamibankruptcy.com.

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi announced this week that more than 72,000 Floridians who lost their homes to foreclosure from 2008 to 2011 will receive $1,480 from the record $26 billion mortgage settlement. To be eligible, borrowers must have lost their homes to foreclosure between Jan. 1, 2008 and Dec. 31, 2011, suffered certain foreclosure abuses, submitted valid foreclosure claims and had mortgages serviced by Ally/GMAC, Bank of America, Citi, JPMorgan Chase or Wells Fargo.

According to Bondi, every borrower who filed a claim will receive a letter regarding their outcome in the upcoming weeks. Borrowers with questions about their National Mortgage Settlement payment can call the settlement administrator at 1-866-430-8358.

Click here to read more on foreclosure relief checks being mailed to Floridians who lost their homes due to foreclosure.

Choosing the right attorney can make the difference between whether or not you can keep your home. A well-qualified Miami foreclosure defense attorney will not only help you keep your home, but they will be able to negotiate a loan that has payments you can afford. Miami foreclosure defense attorney Timothy Kingcade has helped many facing foreclosure alleviate their stress by letting them stay in their homes for at least another year, allowing them to re-organize their lives. If you have any questions on the topic of foreclosure please feel free to contact me at (305) 285-9100. You can also find useful consumer information on the website, www.miamibankruptcy.com.