Florida foreclosures Archives - Page 2 of 3

National Foreclosure Scam Results in 11 Indictments

Posted on March 27, 2019by Admin

Eleven people involved in a national foreclosure scam were indicted this week by a federal grand jury in connection with a scheme to defraud homeowners desperate to save their homes. These 11 people come from five different states in connection with the scam. They stand accused of making promises to homeowners that they would negotiate with their mortgage lenders to protect them from losing their homes in foreclosure but never did anything on behalf of the homeowners after money was paid. This is a common scam we have seen so many times before.

The formal indictment listed MVP Home Solutions, also known as “Stay In or Walk Away,” Bolden Pinnacle Group Corp, also known as “Home Advisory Services Network” and “Home Advisory Services Group,” and Silverstein & Wolf Corp, as parties to this legal matter.

What these parties are accused of doing is using multilevel marketing schemes for recruiting homeowners facing foreclosure. The companies encouraged their employees to be aggressive in pushing homeowners to get on board with the program. They would search court records and online databases to find people who they know were facing foreclosure and were vulnerable and desperate to do whatever necessary to stay in their homes. The individuals targeted were living in states where foreclosure rates were particularly high- including Florida.

The reports show some examples of how persistent these companies were at recruiting homeowners to cooperate with them. In southern Ohio, more than 22,000 postcards were mailed to homeowners, indicating that the company could stop the foreclosure from proceeding or could stop a sheriff sale if the homeowner paid a fixed fee to the company first. In addition, these companies made promises that they could also negotiate the release of mortgage loans for a deed in lieu of foreclosure sale or a short sale or could stop a foreclosure sale from proceeding. They also made statements that, for a fixed fee, the company could achieve the short sale price at a fraction of what the homeowner owed on the mortgage.

Once the victim of the scam paid the upfront fee, there was never any negotiation done on their behalf. It was a typical “take the money and run” scheme, and the homeowner wound up not only losing their home but additional money in the process that they paid to the company.

The released indictment included charges involving conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud, four counts of mail fraud, seven counts of wire fraud, one county of bank fraud, 12 counts of bankruptcy fraud, and even one count of aggravated identity theft.

So far, eight of the 11 individuals listed in the indictment have been arrested in Ohio, Virginia, New Jersey, and New York. Three others named in the indictment, including a Rafiq Bashir from Jacksonville, FL, have not yet been arrested.

Click here to read more on this story.

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 Kingcade Garcia McMaken website at www.miamibankruptcy.com.

Foreclosure Rates Reach Pre-Recession Record Low

Posted on February 6, 2019by Admin

Good news has come from the housing market involving mortgages and delinquencies across the nation. According to a recent report, the rate of foreclosures and loan delinquencies is now at the lowest it has been since before the 2008 financial crisis.

The report comes from the Data and Analytics division of Black Knight, Inc. and showed that just shy of four percent of mortgages nationwide were delinquent as of 2018, which is down 18 percent from 2017. One word of caution from the report was that it was possible that these figures could be inflated by the after-effects from the 2017 and 2018 hurricanes. The effect could not be too significant, however, since areas that were not impacted by hurricanes were also down 11 percent from 2017. It is anticipated that these rates will decrease even more and could even go lower than they were before the recession.

Mortgages that were seriously delinquent also went down as of the end of 2018. A mortgage is said to be seriously delinquent when the payment is more than 90 days past due. Foreclosure starts, as well as foreclosure sales, were at an 18-year low, according to Black Knight’s reports.

Of all of the states, Colorado reported the lowest serious delinquent rate at 0.37 percent, while Mississippi was at the highest at 3.06 percent. The national foreclosure rate was also down 19 percent over 2018, dropping 0.52 percent from 2017. Even more promising were reports that five states experienced more than 30 percent declines in their foreclosure rates, including New Jersey, Oregon, Nevada, Washington, Utah and D.C.

States that reported the highest number of non-current home loans, meaning loan obligations that were in some level of delinquency or were past due, were from southern states, including Mississippi, Alabama, West Virginia, Arkansas, and Louisiana. Colorado, North Dakota, Idaho, Washington and Oregon reported the lowest number of non-current loans.

As of the end of 2018, 60,000 loans were in foreclosure to the point where the borrower had not made a payment in over two years. Over 40,000 loans had not received a payment in at least five years. These figures may seem high, but the report also showed that the aged foreclosure inventory rate was dropping, as well.

In fact, foreclosures that were ongoing for five or more years dropped by 35 percent from 2017 to 2018. Interestingly enough, the aged foreclosures seem to be from two states, including New York and Florida. These two states alone claim 40 percent and 20 percent respectively of aged foreclosure loans.

Many borrowers are taking this opportunity to refinance their mortgages. The report indicated that the lower rate of mortgage foreclosures in the last two months alone led to a 50 percent increase in the number of borrowers seeking a refinance on their mortgages.

Please click here to read more.

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 Kingcade Garcia McMaken website at www.miamibankruptcy.com.

Foreclosures, Timothy Kingcade Posts

Foreclosure Starts Increase in South Florida

Posted on September 10, 2018by Admin

While the rate of foreclosure has declined nationwide, South Florida has seen a recent surge in foreclosure starts. In fact, the Sunshine State had one of the highest rates of foreclosure starts in the U.S. in July, compared to the same period last year, according to a recent study by Attom Data Solutions. The report showed one in every 1,180 housing units in Florida showed a bank warning of pending foreclosure due to late payment, a 35 percent increase year-over-year.

Foreclosure starts in Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach increased 29 percent in July — the third consecutive month of year-over-year spikes (foreclosure starts went up four percent in May and 35 percent in June).

Does this mean we are about to enter another housing crisis? Not likely. The report tracked foreclosure rates in all 50 states as of July 2018, comparing them to the July 2017. And according to the data, the total foreclosure rates in the U.S. are down 0.5 percent. It is a select number of states, Florida included, that appear to be hit the hardest.

Out of all the metropolitan areas in the U.S., South Florida was one of the top three with foreclosure filings, coming in third to the Los Angeles and Houston metropolitan areas.

This brings the question as to why South Floridians are being hit so hard by foreclosure? The report speculates that the 2017 hurricane season could be the reason for the increased foreclosure filings as many are still struggling to get back on their feet after last year’s hurricanes. The 2017 hurricane season hit many Floridians hard, impacting a total of 4.8 million mortgaged homes. A number of these homes were granted mortgage forbearance extensions, giving the homeowners extra time to catch up, but not everyone received this benefit.

Another factor that has attributed to an increase in foreclosure filings in South Florida include the number of underwater homes entering the real estate market. According to Attom’s report, one in 10 properties in the U.S. have a mortgage that is underwater, meaning the market value is 25 percent lower than the current loan balance. As more underwater homes are put on the market, property values almost always drop. Analysts warn this new wave of foreclosure starts could even impact higher-priced homes, including the abundance of expensive condos in the downtown Miami area.

If you find yourself in over your head when it comes to your mortgage, it is important you contact an experienced attorney for a free consultation.

Click here to read more on this story.

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 Kingcade Garcia McMaken website at www.miamibankruptcy.com.

Foreclosures, Timothy Kingcade Posts

Florida: The Only State to Post an Increase in Mortgage Delinquencies

Posted on August 22, 2018by Admin

Recent statistics show that across the nation, mortgage delinquency rates have declined. However, despite the decline in numbers, delinquency rates in the State of Florida are on the rise and can be attributed primarily to the destruction brought by the 2017 hurricane season.

These figures come from a recent CoreLogic Loan Performance Insights Report. The report showed that over all, delinquency rates on mortgages are on the decline nationwide. For a select few states, including Florida, however, that’s not the case. Florida was reported as having the third highest delinquency rate in the nation, coming in at 6.2 percent. It is also noted that this rate is a one percentage point increase from the previous year.

The state with the highest rate of delinquency reported was Mississippi, posting a 7.9 percent delinquency rate. Another state that was touched by the 2017 hurricane season, Texas, posted a high delinquency rate, although its rate did not change from May 2017. Texas, like Florida, was also hit hard during the 2017 hurricane season.

Out of all 50 states, Colorado had the lowest mortgage delinquency rating, coming in at 1.8 percent.

The total mortgage delinquency rate for the nation was reported at 4.2 percent. This figure means that 4.2 percent of all American homes were in some stage of the delinquency process. It should be noted that this figure did drop 0.3 percentage points, coming down from 4.5 percent the previous year. This figure is also the lowest reported for the month of May since May 2006 when the figure was reported at 4.1 percent.

The delinquency rates reported by CoreLogic include all home mortgages or loans that are at least 30 days or more past due, as well as those loans that are in foreclosure. For the month of May alone, the year where the number of mortgages that were delinquent was the highest was in May 2010 when the rate was reported at 11.4 percent nationwide. The years when the rates were the lowest were before the recession in 2007, between the years 2000 and 2006 where the average delinquency mortgage rate was 4.7 percent.

CoreLogic does not only monitor mortgage delinquency rates. The report also showed the rate at which a mortgage moves from one stage of delinquency to the next stage such as the 30 days delinquency to 60-day delinquency to 90-day delinquency stage. The most recent report showed the rate mortgages moved from current to 30 days delinquency was 0.8 percent. This rate did not change from the previous year. However, the rate of mortgages that went from 30 to 60 days was reported at 15.1 percent, up from the previous year when it was reported at 13.8 percent. The number of mortgages that went from 60 days to 90 days was 24.3 percent, which is down from the prior year’s figure of 24.9 percent.

CoreLogic also reports on the foreclosure inventory rate. This rate includes the number of mortgages that are in some stage of the foreclosure procedure. The national figure was reported at 0.5 percent, down from the 2017 figure of 0.7 percent. It should be noted that this year’s number is the lowest it has been since 2006.

Click here to read more on this story.

Foreclosures, Timothy Kingcade Posts

Florida Ranks in the Top 10 for Highest Foreclosure Rates

Posted on February 6, 2018by Admin

Even with economic improvement, Florida ranked among the top 10 states with the highest foreclosure rates in 2017, despite the number of foreclosures dropping by 45% compared to 2016. Last year in Florida there were 24,215 foreclosure proceedings filed, compared to 43,772 in 2016, according to ATTOM Data.

Here are the states with the highest foreclosure rates in 2017:

New Jersey (1.61 percent of housing units with a foreclosure filing);
Delaware (1.13 percent);
Maryland (0.95 percent);
Illinois (0.86 percent);
Connecticut (0.78 percent);
Florida (0.72 percent);
South Carolina (0.70 percent);
Ohio (0.70 percent);
Nevada (0.67 percent);
New Mexico (0.63 percent).

Florida ranked among the top states with the highest number of legacy foreclosures on loans originated between 2004 and 2008. Miami-Dade County ranked among the highest number of legacy foreclosures in the nation. The top counties were: Nassau County (Long Island), New York (6,782); Cook County (Chicago), Illinois (5,478); Kings County (Brooklyn), New York (4,677); Miami-Dade County, Florida (3,804); and Suffolk County (Long Island), New York (3,417). In the fourth quarter of 2017, Florida also ranked near the top of all states with the longest average time to foreclose, on average 1,493 days.

Click here to read more on this story.

Foreclosures, Timothy Kingcade Posts

Foreclosure Filings Drop Sharply in South Florida

Posted on January 22, 2018by Admin

During the 2007-2009 recession, South Florida was at the top of the list for most foreclosures. However, in 2017 South Florida ranked No. 21 for the highest foreclosure rate among the nation’s metro areas. Foreclosure filings dropped 37.9 percent in South Florida during 2017, according to Attom Data Solutions.

There were 20,019 properties with foreclosure filings in South Florida during 2017, or one in every 124 houses. The rate was higher in Miami-Dade County at one in 110 houses, followed by Broward County at one in 127 houses, and Palm Beach County at one in 149 houses.

Nationally, foreclosures were down 27 percent in 2017 and were at the lowest level since 2005, according to Attom. The metro regions with the highest foreclosure rates in 2017 were Atlantic City, New Jersey; Trenton, New Jersey; Philadelphia; Fayetteville, North Carolina; and Rockford, Illinois.

Click here to read more on this story.

Foreclosures, Timothy Kingcade Posts

Foreclosures Drop to Lowest Level in More than 10 Years

Posted on September 4, 2017by Admin

There were fewer loans in the month of July than any month in more than 10 years, according to a new report from Black Knight Financial Services. There were 398,000 properties in foreclosure pre-sale in July, which is down 12,000 from June and down more than 150,000 from the same time period last year, a decline of 28%.

The month of July also marked the first time that the number of loans in foreclosure was below 400,000 since February 2007. While foreclosures are down, loans in delinquency increased slightly month-over-month in July, but 2017’s total is still below last year’s numbers.

The number of properties that are 90 or more days past due, but not in foreclosure was 555,000 in July, which is still 140,000 lower than last year.

Black Knight’s report shows that there were 2.38 million properties that are 30 or more days past due or in foreclosure in July, which is up 42,000 from June, but down 452,000 from the previous year.

Click here to read more on this story.

Foreclosures, Timothy Kingcade Posts

South Florida Foreclosures Down 33 Percent

Posted on July 26, 2017by Admin

The increase in home prices and a stable job market have caused foreclosures to decline across South Florida. The first half of this year, 12,463 homes were in some stage of foreclosure, down 33 percent from a year ago and 56 percent from the same period in 2015, according to ATTOM Data Solutions.

Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach will close out the year with a fraction of the total that occurred during the 2009 peek of the housing crisis, when there were 172,854 properties in the process of foreclosure. Statewide, foreclosures are down 34 percent from a year ago and 56 percent from 2015.

South Florida is on pace to finish 2017 with a foreclosure rate of about 1 percent. Numbers have not been that low in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach since 2006.

Click here to read more on this story.

Debt Relief, Foreclosures, Timothy Kingcade Posts

The Foreclosure Litigation Strategy Targeting Florida Seniors

Posted on February 21, 2017by Admin

A new defense strategy by lenders is targeting a growing number of low-income seniors. It involves suing to foreclose on government-guaranteed home loans under various defaults, then fast-tracking the lawsuits by filing motions for orders to show cause. These motions shift the burden of proof to the borrower, requiring them to appear in court and explain why a judge should not grant final judgment against them.

“All of a sudden, we saw a spate of foreclosures where the mortgage companies alleged the seniors no longer lived in the home,” said Gladys Gerson, supervising attorney for Coast to Coast Legal Aid of South Florida’s senior unit. “This has been happening around the state.”

A dozen more cases statewide have appeared targeting low-income seniors. Florida is ground zero for issues involving seniors, but experts believe this tactic is likely to spread to other states.

Click here to read more on this story.