By Mike Colpitts The American Civil Liberties Union says that Florida’s ‘rocket docket’ designed to speed up the foreclosure process to benefit bankers’ is unconstitutional, and will challenge the system to the fullest extent of the law in court. The U.S. 20th Judicial Circuit operates the system, which covers foreclosures in five Southern Florida counties,… Continue reading ACLU Says Foreclosure ‘Rocket Docket’ Unconstitutional
Category: Florida
Florida housing market
New Home Builder Giving Away Vacations
By Mike Colpitts In a move to drive up new home sales, the nation’s largest publicly traded luxury homebuilder is giving away vacations to attract buyers. Toll Brothers will pay up to $4,000 in airfare and vacation accommodations to visit one of its four new home communities in Florida. The “Fly and Buy” program was… Continue reading New Home Builder Giving Away Vacations
Negative Home Equity Strengthens
By Mike Colpitts Homes in negative equity or with mortgages that are higher than the property’s current market value declined in the first quarter of 2011, according to a leading real estate research firm. Residential properties were down slightly from 11.1 million homes or more than 23% of properties in the prior quarter. The drop… Continue reading Negative Home Equity Strengthens
Hurricane Storm Surge Poses $300 Billion in Home Losses
By Mike Colpitts Hurricane driven storm property damage in ten major urban areas along the Atlantic and U.S. Gulf coastlines would exceed $300-billion in home losses, according to an assessment by a real estate research firm. It’s the second annual assessment by Core Logic, developed to enhance understanding of the heightened risk storm surge damage… Continue reading Hurricane Storm Surge Poses $300 Billion in Home Losses
Housing Downturn Reaches Year Five
By Mike Colpitts The downturn in the U.S. residential housing market is approaching five years, which arrives in just one week with the start of June. Housing markets in California and Florida were the fist to feel the impact of the slowdown that resulted from a combination of Wall Street shenanigans and bankers creative financing… Continue reading Housing Downturn Reaches Year Five
Foreclosures Fall Seven Straight Months, But Still at Crisis Level
By Kevin Chiu Hampered by internal bank and mortgage servicing company delays, foreclosure notices fell to a 40 month low in April, declining 9% from the prior month and 34% from a year ago. The slowdown represented the seventh straight month of delays in the foreclosure crisis as a result of the moratorium put in… Continue reading Foreclosures Fall Seven Straight Months, But Still at Crisis Level
Homeowner Associations May Hit Record Lawsuit Volume
By Mike Colpitts Homeowner and condominium associations straddled with high debt in the real estate crash are resulting in at least thousands of member-owners refusing to pay monthly fees, and may reach record lawsuit volume in U.S. courtrooms. The development was determined during a routine Housing Predictor survey of markets monitored across the nation. The… Continue reading Homeowner Associations May Hit Record Lawsuit Volume
Florida Market #1 in Housing Recovery
By Mike Colpitts An economic development program is driving one Florida County to a recovery in housing long before the rest of the U.S. Lee County, which is home to Fort Myers, has the second highest foreclosure rating in the nation right behind Las Vegas, Nevada on a per-capita basis. But Lee County, which has… Continue reading Florida Market #1 in Housing Recovery
Law Would Waive Taxes
By Mike Colpitts A new proposal made by a Florida member of the U.S. House of Representatives would waive federal income taxes on retirement plans if the proceeds were used to buy a home that was foreclosed. The bill, offered by Representative Bill Posey (R-FL), a Realtor has made the resolution as part of the… Continue reading Law Would Waive Taxes
Win a Condo Raffle for Charity
By Kevin Chiu A Twin-Cities man thinks he’s found a way to buck the tough real estate market and attract attention to sell his condominium, despite the sluggish marketplace, and William Panzarella is doing it all in the name of charity. The Minneapolis condo owner has teamed up with a real estate agent to raffle… Continue reading Win a Condo Raffle for Charity