Blog

By Nicholas Nehamas “Federal authorities on Wednesday announced a temporary anti-money-laundering crackdown on pricey homes bought secretly with cash in Miami-Dade County and New York City. The new policy will require title insurance companies to identify the true owners of shell companies that pay $1 million or more in cash for homes in Miami-Dade andRead more

MortgageOrb.com | “After five consecutive months of steady decline, the delinquency rate for U.S. home mortgages spiked nearly 10% in June, month over month, according to Lender Processing Services’ (LPS) “First Look” Mortgage Report. The total U.S. loan delinquency rate (loans 30 or more days past due but not in foreclosure) reached 6.68%, an increase ofRead more

winknews.com | “RealtyTrac® (www.realtytrac.com), the leading online marketplace for real estate data, today released a report showing that as of June owners had vacated 167,680 foreclosure properties nationwide, representing 20 percent of all U.S. properties in the foreclosure process. These owner-vacated foreclosures are in addition to 544,274 bank-owned homes nationwide that have been foreclosed onRead more

By Jennifer Liberto @CNNMoney | Tampa homeowners probably need the government’s help more than in other places. After all, Florida’s Tampa Bay reported the nation’s third highest rate of foreclosures as recently as May. But those seeking in-person help from the government will be out of luck. The federal housing department, which handles such things as emergency placementsRead more

By Lauren Carroll, Times Staff Writer | “Homeowners facing foreclosure should prepare for speedier judgment than they might expect. Last week, Gov. Rick Scott approved legislation intended to expedite the foreclosure process, which led the Pinellas-Pasco Circuit to make changes that will affect lenders and buyers. Currently, the average Florida foreclosure case lasts about 900 days. ChiefRead 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