Foreclosure judgment entered against developer owner of Victoria Park condominium

The Broward Circuit Court entered a foreclosure judgment in favor of a Miami-based bank on July 14, 2009. The developer, ANM, acquired the Blux at Victoria Park and a related condominium project in 2006. The 15 unit Blux was nearly completely unsold- with one unit having been purchased in 2007. The neighboring Acqua at Victoria Park is a 5 unit condominium. Pursuant to the foreclosure judgment, the Victoria Park property will be auctioned off at a public sale on September 22, 2009 at 11 a.m.

Florida Foreclosure scams: how low can they go?

Four more South Florida mortgage loan modification companies have been sued this week for violations of the Florida Foreclosure Rescue Fraud Prevention Act. FHA All Day.Com, Inc., Safety Financial Services, Inc., Housing Assistance Law Center PA and Housing Assistance Now, Inc. were named in the suit, as well as FHA All Day and Safety Financial owner Jason Vitulano. To date, the Attorney Generals office received over 300 complaints about the Delray Beach and Boca Raton based businesses.

The four related companies allegedly targeted homeowners with telemarketing calls, using President Obama's voice, charged upfront "document review fees" and "legal costs".

Vitulano reportedly told the Sun Sentinel that said he only had rented space to Housing Assistance Law Center and denied any connection with Housing Assistance Now. He and the Attorney General's Office had discussed settling for $15,000 in investigative costs and $20,000 in restitution regarding FHA earlier this year but Vitulano said negotiations broke down when he refused to also permanently abandon the mortgage modification business.

While the Attorney General's office appears to be vigorously pursuing companies who violated the Foreclosure Fraud Prevention Act, it appears that these actions alone are not enough to prevent the widespread fraud and resultant damage from companies and individuals who seek to profit illegally from the misfortune of Florida homeowners. Until the public is sufficietly educated about the foreclosure fraud law, thus able to avoid paying large fees to companies who will do little or nothing to assist them, it appears that the fraud will continue.

Florida's economic recovery expected to be slow and unemployment expected to continue

In a further bout of good news, Florida Legislature's Office of Economic and Demographic Research revised its forecast for the Florida economy and predicted that Florida's economic recession will not hit bottom until next year. The economic forecast offered the additional gloom and doom news that unemployment is expected to remain at or near 11 percent through 2011. Keep in mind that those unemployment statistics reflect only those currently receiving unemployment benefits, and also do not take into account those who are working part time rather than full time.

But, take heart, South Floridians. State experts are predicting a faster recovery for us than our neighbors in the northern part of the state. Given the diverse economy of South Florida, which is less reliant on real estate development, South Florida could rebound faster and stronger than the predictions.

The numbers and predictions seem to be little more than educated (or not so much so) guesses on when things will get better. One thing is certain: without some type of state-wide or national reform, the foreclosure rate, which experienced a small decline last month, will continue to soar.

Foreclosure seminar offered to Palm Beach County residents

The City of Wellington is hosting a monthly seminar to assist Palm Beach county residents who are facing foreclosure. The seminars include include a panel discussion and one-on-one assistance for homeowners. Seminars are held the third Thursday of every month at the Wellington Community Center, 12165 W. Forest Hill Blvd.

New foreclosure filings must be now be reported to the county in accordance with the new Miami-Dade law .

As of July 10, 2009, lenders are required to register homes in Miami-Dade county when foreclosure proceedings are filed. Once a property is registered, the Miami-Dade Office of Neighborhood Compliance will inspect the property. If the owners have vacated, the lender will now be responsible for maintaining the property.
Unfortunately, the new law applies only to homes in unincorporated areas of Miami-Dade county. Efforts at a statewide registry failed as the proposal was rejected in the state legislature.

The new law makes an attempt to keep lenders responsible for properties they are about to own. There is hope that this will cause less decline in value as the properties will be

Condo foreclosure reform movement continues in South Florida

In addition to homeowners, Florida condominium associations are also feeling the effects of foreclosure. With many owners facing foreclosure or in the foreclosure process, condominium associations have seen a substantial decline in collection of maintenance fees needed to maintain their operating budgets. Some associations have been forced to raise fees on all owners and cut back on services. In the worst cases, utilities have been shut off and some, like Miami Beach association, Maison Grande, have been forced to to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.


About 100 condo owners from Miami Dade and Broward condominium associations met last week for a second in a series of meetings, hoping to encourage the Florida legislature to address the foreclosure crisis and relieve its impact on the condominium associations. Unfortunately, much like the present foreclosure crisis, there appears to be no immediate relief in sight.

Foreclosure rescue scams continue in South Florida: Seven new companies being investigated

Despite the passing of the Florida Foreclosure Fraud Rescue Act, the Florida attorney general began investigating seven more foreclosure rescue companies, bringing the total number of companies under investigation to 11. The companies are based in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach county.

A Miami-based mortgage modification outfit, Lincoln Lending Services LLC, targeted Hispanics facing foreclosure, said state officials who sued the company in March. The suit filed by Attorney General Bill McCollum claimed Lincoln Lending and its owner, Rita Gomez, defrauded 10 homeowners and violated the state's deceptive and unfair trade practices law by assessing upfront fees.

The Attorney General is seeking a court order dissolving the companies and obtaining restitution for the consumers who paid money to these companies. Refunds may be hard to come by as the companies telephone numbers are already disconnected and the owners are likely nowhere to be found.

Former mortgage brokers profit from foreclosures by offering loan modification services

Many people are earning less these days as a direct or indirect result of the subprime mortgage crisis. But not those who had a hand in issuing the loans that caused it. Former mortgage brokers, many of whom arranged for dubious and questionable loans for riskier borrowers, are now making money as loan consultants. In essence, these former brokers are offering to assist borrowers now facing foreclosure as a result of the loans they should not have obtained in the first place. It should come as no surprise that these loan modification services are no more helpful to borrowers than the advice given to them in the first place.

In Los Angeles, former high risk broker Jack Sousanna reorganized his office under the name Federal Loan Modification Law Center. The new business venture charged large up front "retainer" fees, as much as $3500, and, according to a New York Times investigation, often produced little result for its clients. FedMod, the company who ran the modification center, is now defending itself in a lawsuit brought by the Federal Trade Commission.

As discussed in a previous post, Florida passed the Foreclosure Fraud Prevention Act to guard against such questionable business dealings. In Florida, foreclosure assistance firms or "rescue consultants"- defined as anyone who is not a lawyer, cannot charge upfront fees and must complete work as promised before collecting a fee.

But there is a relatively easy way to circumvent this law. A foreclosure consultant firm (which can be any set of individuals with little or no experience in law or real estate) can bring in an attorney partner and claim that they are operating as a law firm, as FedMod attempted to do. While this may ultimately land the attorney participating in such a scheme in considerable trouble, not to mention facing the loss of his/her license to practice law, that will be little consolation to anyone who gets caught up in such a scheme, and who may lose their home as a result of trusting an unscrupulous company masquerading as a law firm.

Florida homebuyers face bidding wars while lenders hold back foreclosures to increase competition

Florida real estate investors and first time homebuyers, seeking to make profit or capitalize on the $8,000 tax credit, are facing competition for homes priced under $200,000. It is not uncommon, in fact it is becoming the norm, for homes in this price range to become the object of a bidding war and, in some instances, to sell for more than the asking price.

Despite the encouraging signs of this apparent turnaround- prices leveling off, inventory being reduced, market researches warn that the foreclosure crisis is far from over. For one thing, it will take more than investors and first time homebuyers to bring the market back from its current sluggishness. Another concern is that Florida unemployment keeps rising, which means that more homeowners will likely face foreclosure.

But more disturbing is the suspected practice of lenders in creating an artificial price increase. Some observers suspect that lenders are holding back the supply of foreclosed homes, promoting bidding wars to increase prices now before the flood of new listings further depresses prices. Banks dispute that notion. They say they're overwhelmed with foreclosures and try to market them for sale as quickly as possible. Holding onto foreclosed properties, the banks argue, only costs the bank more money. One can't help but wonder: if the banks realize that foreclosure is not in their best interest, then why are the banks fighting alternatives to foreclosure?

Florida Foreclosure filings decreased but Florida foreclosures remains high in national foreclosure rate

In a previous post, I discussed the decrease in foreclosure filings over the past month. Experts suggested that this was no cause for celebration. It turns out that the experts are correct.

Florida foreclosures are the third highest in the nation, according to realty trac. From January through June, 2009, 3% of Florida homeowners received at least one foreclosure filing. Florida's foreclosure rate is even more disturbing. With 268,064 properties receiving a foreclosure filing in the first six months of 2009, Florida documented the second highest state total number of foreclosure filings. Florida foreclosure activity in the first half of 2009 increased 7 percent from the previous six months and was up nearly 42 percent from the first half of 2008.

It is clear that Florida foreclosures will continue at an alarming rate as more and more homeowners are affecting by foreclosure. As unemployment is expected to rise, it is a certainty that this will lead to more foreclosure filings as well.

Foreclosure law: Foreclosed property prevention program suffers setbacks, falls well short of goals

Since the launching of the foreclosed property prevention program four months ago, only around 13,000home loans have been refinanced, far short of its admittedly lofty goal of helping 2 million homeowners.

It is not surprising that one of the main reasons for this underperformance is the failure of lenders and services to implement the policy goals. For example, under the program, refinancing should be made available to homeowners who owe up to 125 percent of their home value. Instead, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, have delayed buying these loans. As a result, lenders are not accepting the loan applications. Another example: while loans with insurance can be refinanced under the program, banks are refusing to accept applications from borrowers with mortgage insurance.

All of this points to a serious lack of accountability. The banks are simply refusing to follow the requirements of the program and offering no explanations for why they will not do so. In the case of loans with mortgage insurance, however, the answer appears pretty obvious.

It is also pretty clear that, unless banks are under far more pressure to negotiate with homeowners, they simply will not do so.

Florida foreclosure filings decline by 50% in June: experts warn that the numbers are misleading.

On July 17, 2009, the Miami Herald reported that new foreclosure filings in South Florida dropped 50% from May to June. While this may sound encouraging, lenders took back nearly double the number of homes in foreclosure actions and experts warn that the foreclosure crisis is far from over.
Despite all efforts by the Obama administration to make loan modification available to borrowers, all reports point to only a small number of homeowners receiving loan modifications. One of the main reasons is, in theory, due to the fact that lenders still do not understand the loan modification process. Lenders are also completely overwhelmed by the number of homes in foreclosure, which further slows down the process.
Even though the overall picture remains discouraging, there is hope for homeowners facing foreclosure. Loan modification, although difficult to obtain, is a viable option. At the end of the day, the bank does not want to own all of these homes. The foreclosure process is time consuming and expensive for lenders and the end result is that the home is sold at auction for a fraction of its previous sales price. The bank may receive all cash on the sale, but will still have a significant loss. It may be better for the bank to continue receiving payments from the homeowner in foreclosure, even if those payments are lower as a result of loan modification.
Loan modification is a difficult process, especially for homeowners attempting to do it themselves. Homeowners need to call their lenders repeatedly and incessantly, up to several times per day, to even reach a representative who can begin the loan modification process. The loan modification process is extremely time consuming and difficult, especially for a homeowner who is trying to keep his/her job at the same time. Hiring a foreclosure defense law firm or foreclosure lawyer with experience in negotiating loan modifications may be the best route for homeowners facing foreclosure. Anyone with questions regarding loan modification or foreclosure is encouraged to contact an foreclosure attorney.
The information included in this article has been prepared by Lori Barkus, Esq. for information purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for legal advise from your own legal counsel. Transmission of such information is not intended to create, and receipt does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship between Lori Barkus, Esq. and the receiver. No information in this article should be acted upon any person, entity or firm without first obtaining proper legal advise. Be advised that the act of sending electronic mail or any telephone communication with Lori Barkus, Esq. or Lori Barkus P.A. does not in and of itself create an attorney-client relationship.
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