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By Dan Levy & Heather Perlberg | “Home repossessions in the U.S. jumped 11 percent in May after declining for the previous five months as rising prices and limited inventory for sale across the country spurred banks to complete foreclosures . Lenders took back 38,946 homes, up from 34,997 in April, according to Irvine, California-based data firmRead more

BY JAMES L. ROSICA | Tribune staff | TALLAHASSEE – “In the week before Gov. Rick Scott’s deadline to sign a bill that would speed up the state’s residential mortgage foreclosure process, bank employees flooded his inbox with a form letter urging his approval. The bill “will help Florida’s real estate market, and ultimately the economy,Read more

By Mary Shanklin, Orlando Sentinel | A homeowner-advocacy group is pressuring Florida Gov. Rick Scott to veto a bill that would expedite foreclosures in the state starting July 1. The new state law would allow banks to complete foreclosures without court hearings, unless a homeowner requests to have a specific case heard by a judge.In the past, allRead more

WinkNews | WASHINGTON, D.C.- U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) wants federal regulators to investigate and crack down on the mortgage industry’s inaccurate reporting of short sales as more financially harmful foreclosures in many consumers’ credit reports. The Florida Democrat represents a state that continues to be one of the worst in the nation for theRead more

Julie Schmit, USA TODAY | Foreclosure activity in April fell to its lowest level in 74 months, but action is ramping up in some states, says a national foreclosure tracker. In April, one of every 905 U.S. housing units received a foreclosure filing, market watcher RealtyTrac says. That was the lowest level since February 2007Read more

By ASSOCIATED PRESS |   “TALLAHASSEE — With tens of thousands of foreclosure cases clogged in the state’s courts, the Florida Supreme Court is signing off on a plan to use lawyers — and not judges — to handle them. The court on Thursday issued an order that will allow chief judges across the state to use “generalRead more

By John Hielscher | Florida again led the nation with the highest percentage of homes in foreclosure in March, according to a new report. Facts HIGHEST PERCENTAGE: 9.7% of state’s homes were in such distress in March The state’s foreclosure inventory — those in some stage of foreclosure — extended to 9.7 percent of all mortgaged homesRead more

NEWS SERVICE OF FLORIDA | Two hundred million dollars from banks would go for various housing programs, and to help the homeless, under legislation passed Tuesday by the Florida House. The money was earmarked from the national mortgage settlement. Bank of America was one of five large banks that paid the state $334 million to settleRead more

By: Amy Green | May 13, 2013 | WMFE – A consumer advocacy group is calling on Gov. Rick Scott to veto legislation aimed at accelerating the foreclosure process. Advocates say the bill should focus on banks and funding for judges, not homeowners. The bill allows more parties – like homeowners and condominium associations –Read more

By JENNA BUZZACCO-FOERSTER |   TALLAHASSEE — Legislation to streamline the state’s foreclosure process has cleared its final legislative hurdle. Now the fate of House Bill 87 — the mortgage foreclosure bill carried by Rep.Kathleen Passidomo , R-Naples, in the House and Sen. Jack Latvala, R-Clearwater, in the Senate — lies in the hands of Gov. Rick Scott . The stateRead more