Foreclosure Archives - Page 6 of 19

Foreclosure: Bad for your Neighbor’s Health?

Posted on May 15, 2014by Admin

According to research published in the American Heart Association Journal, Circulation, the stress associated with living near a foreclosed home increases the chance of developing high blood pressure. Foreclosures are known for decreasing the property values of neighboring homes, but new research suggests it can also affect the health of your neighbors.

The study tracked 1,750 Massachusetts residents from 1987 through 2008 and found that each foreclosure within 100 meters of a person’s home affected their systolic blood pressure, the top number in the reading. According to the study, neighbors may be worried that foreclosures are hurting their home values or the safety of their communities, and that this anxiety can boost blood pressure. The study was controlled for age, income, education, race, sex and other factors, including whether the participants were taking blood-pressure medications. It also considered alcohol consumption and weight and found that both increased when there were foreclosures nearby.

Homes that lapse into foreclosure but are quickly purchased do not appear to lead to a rise in blood pressure, whereas homes that are seized by banks and stand vacant do, according to the study. The increase was not significant enough to present a huge health risk, but it does suggest that the housing crisis extends beyond the economy into the public health arena.

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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 website at www.miamibankruptcy.com.

Homeowners may be unaware their homes are no longer in Foreclosure

Posted on April 21, 2014by Admin

A recent report from RealtyTrac confirms that an increasingly larger number of homes in the foreclosure process actually have positive equity. According to the report, the share of foreclosures with positive equity in the first quarter reached 35 percent, up from 31 percent in the previous quarter and 24 percent in the third quarter of 2013. This percentage includes borrowers who have defaulted on their loans or are in some other stage of the foreclosure process but their homes have not been taken over by the banks, yet.

The reason behind this can be attributed to timing. Once a foreclosure is initiated, it can sometimes take years to complete the process. As we have seen, a lot can happen to housing prices in a couple of years. Home prices have risen dramatically in the past couple of years; some that are still stuck in the foreclosure process have regained their equity.

Homeowners may be unaware of this, either because they have moved or have stopped keeping tabs on their home’s property value. A high-percentage of all homes in the foreclosure process are vacant. RealtyTrac has not cross-referenced to see how many of the vacant ones have positive equity.

Real estate experts agree that paying attention to home values can make all the difference. In certain cases, struggling borrowers may be able to hang onto their homes by refinancing. The latest numbers reveal 9.3 million homes, representing 19 percent of all properties with a mortgage, were seriously underwater in the fourth quarter. Florida has the second highest percentage of seriously underwater properties at 31%. Nevada has the highest share of underwater properties at 34%.

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Foreclosures, Timothy Kingcade Posts

Some Americans paid off credit cards while waiting on Foreclosure

Posted on April 16, 2014by Admin

The number of foreclosures during the recession helped some Americans pay off other debts, such as credit card bills, according to research from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. Foreclosures peaked in 2009, and the timeline for processing them stretched out in some states for as much as three years, allowing many people to remain in their homes without paying a mortgage.

The economists looked at data from U.S. households that were already delinquent on at least one credit card before falling behind on mortgage payments and going into foreclosure from 2004 through 2010. Their research of more than 27,500 loans found people whose foreclosures took longer to process were more likely to pay off nonmortgage debt like credit cards.

However, the benefits are often short-lived. The results of the study indicate that the foreclosed consumers are less likely to stay current on all of their credit cards as they have to start making mortgage payments once the foreclosure ends.

Foreclosures, Timothy Kingcade Posts

NEW bill protects renters from foreclosure-related evictions

Posted on March 11, 2014by Admin

Receiving a foreclosure notice as a homeowner is devastating. But imagine losing your home or apartment to foreclosure as a renter, when you paid your rent on time every month. Congress is pushing for permanent protections for renters who find themselves in this very situation.

U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown is a cosponsor of a bill that would permanently extend the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2009, which gives temporary protection against eviction to families renting houses that go into foreclosure.

Tenants who work hard and are responsible rent payers each month deserve protections for themselves and their families. The problem lies with the landlords, who failed to make mortgage payments on these properties.

Up until 2009, if the houses were foreclosed upon and resold, almost always at a discount, the new owners could evict the tenants, often giving the renters no recourse or very little notice to move. The 2009 law ended that by saying if the tenants had leases and were abiding by their terms, the new owners had to honor those leases. There was an exemption if the new owners intended to occupy the properties, but it required giving the tenants 90 days’ notice before eviction.

Tenants would gain a new protection in the latest legislation that they currently do not have: the explicit right to sue the new owners if they believed the owners violated the law. Tenants would have what is called a “right of action,” giving them a clear right to sue.

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Bankruptcy Law, Foreclosures, Timothy Kingcade Posts

Foreclosures Hit Lowest Level in More than Six Years

Posted on February 14, 2014by Admin

Banks took back 30,226 homes last month, a 4 percent drop from December, according to RealtyTrac. Lenders have repossessed fewer U.S. homes in January, bringing the number of foreclosures down to its lowest level in more than six years.

Even with the recent drop, many states posted a sharp increase in the number of homes entering the foreclosure process for the first time, a trend that raises the likelihood that those states will see a surge in foreclosed homes later this year.

It looks as if the U.S. housing market has finally emerged from its slump. Home prices have steadily increased, there has been steady job growth and more homeowners are keeping up with their mortgage payments.

Florida and New York, two states which continue to have a backlog of homes with unpaid mortgages, are only now entering the foreclosure process or being scheduled for auction. Foreclosures peaked in 2010 at 1.05 million and have been declining ever since.

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Bankruptcy Law, Credit, Timothy Kingcade Posts

Distressed Real Estate Continues to Hold Down Miami-Dade’s Housing Market

Posted on February 7, 2014by Admin

According to a recent report from Core Logic, distressed real estate continues to put a damper on Miami-Dade’s housing market. New numbers show a nearly four-point spread between price gains in the overall housing market and price gains when distressed sales are eliminated. That is higher than the one-point spread nationwide and Broward’s spread of 1.5 percentage points.

In Miami-Dade, home prices increased 10.6 percent at the end of 2013 compared to the end of 2012. When leaving out sales of distressed properties (i.e. – sales by banks or homes in the foreclosure process) the gain would have been 14.5 percent, Core Logic said.

In Broward, the overall market saw prices rise 13.7 percent. Leaving out sales of distressed properties, the gains were 15.2 percent. Nationwide, it was an 11-percent gain for all property sales and a gain of 9.9 percent for non-distressed properties, according to Core Logic.

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Foreclosures, Timothy Kingcade Posts

Homes in Foreclosure Hit 6-year Low

Posted on January 21, 2014by Admin

Foreclosures are on the decline, according to the latest evidence from RealtyTrac. The U.S. housing market continues to emerge from a deep slump, aided by rising home prices, steady job growth and fewer bad loans. More homeowners are keeping up with their mortgage payments, leading fewer homes to enter the foreclosure pipeline.

Foreclosures totaled 747,728 last year, which is down 33 percent from a year earlier and is the lowest annual level since 2006. As of December, more than 1.2 million properties nationwide were in some stage of the foreclosure process or owned by banks, but not yet sold. That is a decline of 19 percent from a year earlier and 44 percent below their peak of more than 2.2 million homes in December 2010, Realty Trac said.

Florida continues to remain the nation’s foreclosure hotbed and had 306,018 homes in some stage of foreclosure or owned by banks in December. That amounts to a quarter of the national total.

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Foreclosures, Timothy Kingcade Posts

Consumer Win! Ocwen Financial Ordered to Pay $2 Billion over Foreclosure Abuse Practices

Posted on December 26, 2013by Admin

In a recent agreement with federal regulators, Ocwen Financial Corporation will reduce struggling borrowers’ loan balances by $2 billion over foreclosure abuse practices. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and state attorneys general announced the deal last week.

Ocwen, one of the largest U.S. mortgage servicers, is accused of pushing borrowers into foreclosure through illegal actions, such as failing to promptly and accurately credit mortgage payments. The company also miscalculated interest rates and charged borrowers improper fees, according to regulators.

The CFPB, 49 states and the District of Columbia signed the agreement with Ocwen. The largest share of the $2 billion mortgage relief, an estimated $342 million, is expected to go to Florida. The decision is in alignment with the ultimate goals of preventing foreclosure abuse and helping struggling families keep their homes.

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Foreclosures, Timothy Kingcade Posts

Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act Set to Expire: Underwater Homeowners will likely Face New Tax Bill

Posted on December 19, 2013by Admin

Beginning in January, homeowners with “underwater” mortgages will likely face a new tax bill if they sell their house, modify their mortgage or lose their home in foreclosure. The 2007 federal law that waived income taxes on unpaid mortgage debt is set to expire December 31, 2013.

Without the waiver, homeowners will be forced to pay income taxes on any mortgage amount forgiven by the lender, including foreclosure. Homeowners also will have to pay tax on mortgages that are unpaid because of a short sale or a loan modification, which lowers monthly payments. So this means that a typical homeowner who sells a house for $100,000 but still has a $200,000 mortgage could face a tax bill of $28,000.

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Foreclosures, Timothy Kingcade Posts

South Florida Home Prices Increase Giving Underwater Homeowners a Sense of Hope

Posted on December 10, 2013by Admin

South Florida home prices have increased by more than 20 percent in the past year, giving many underwater homeowners a sense of hope. According to Zillow.com, in the third quarter alone, more than 25,000 homeowners in Broward and Palm Beach counties saw their home values rise above what they owed, freeing them from “underwater” mortgages.

After peaking at $391,100 in November 2005, Broward County’s median home price plunged by more than 50 percent by the time the market finally hit bottom in early 2012. Palm Beach County’s peak median, $421,500, fell by nearly 60 percent for the same period. The steep declines, unleashed a wave of foreclosures. Many underwater homeowners opted for short sales, others were just stuck, continuing to make mortgage payments and unable to sell.

The market began to stabilize when investors and other buyers began looking for bargains. This rush eventually forced housing prices back up. Median prices in Palm Beach and Broward counties have jumped by double digits in every month this year, though the year-to-year increases have slowed since the summer. Analysts expect home values to appreciate closer to the traditional 4 percent a year by 2014.

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