Florida Home Owners Stress Levels on the Rise: New Laws Mean Flood of 1099Cs, Foreclosure Upswing in 2012 – 2013

Larry Tolchinsky | March 8, 2012

It’s very stressful to be a Florida home owner dealing with an underwater mortgage or defaulting on a home loan.  Your credit rating is getting zapped, there are all the collection practices by the mortgage lender to juggle, and then there’s the legal process itself – strategizing with your lawyer on your home and mortgage [...]

Future of Florida Deficiency Judgments on Florida Home Mortgages – Will New Laws Limit or End Bank’s Ability to Sue for Unpaid Mortgage Balance?

Larry Tolchinsky | February 23, 2012

This week, the proposed Florida Fair Foreclosure Act got one step closer to becoming law when the Florida State Senate Judiciary Committee okayed the foreclosure bill.  In the near future, the Florida Legislature should be voting on this proposal and you can track the progress of  this bill (SB 1890) online here. This is a [...]

Bank Foreclosure Fraud Settlement with the State Attorneys General: How Much Trickles Down to Help South Florida Homeowners? Not Much.

Larry Tolchinsky | February 14, 2012

The joint task force investigating foreclosure fraud by banks and mortgage servicers in this country, which brought together the top attorneys for each state in the country, i.e., their Attorneys General, has made a settlement deal according to a news release by the AGs.  From their joint task force’s web site: After many months of [...]

Florida Mortgage Holders: Has Anyone Explained to You About the Collection Efforts That You’ll Face When You Stop Making Your Home Mortgage Payments? Unfair Collection Activities in Florida Mortgage Defaults and Deficiencies

Larry Tolchinsky | January 31, 2012

A nice article appeared in Reuters this week entitled, “What Happens When You Walk Away From Your Home?” that includes a brief discussion of things we post about here regularly:  underwater mortgages in Florida and elsewhere and the various issues that go into deciding whether or not to stop making mortgage payments on a home [...]

Five Things To Know About The Income Tax Break For Short Sales, Foreclosures, and Loan Modifications That Ends December 2012

Larry Tolchinsky | January 26, 2012

As discussed in our earlier post, a major tax break will end on December 31, 2012, that helps Florida home owners facing foreclosures, negotiating loan modifications, or working on a short sale of their home.  For several years, a federal law has exempted the amount that isn’t covered by the foreclosure or short sale or [...]

Florida Home Owners Need to Short Sale Now Because Income Tax Benefit Goes Away End of 2012: The Mortgage Debt Relief Act of 2007 Expires This Year

Larry Tolchinsky | January 24, 2012

Florida home owners concerned about foreclosure and pondering a short sale should get busy and get that short sale process started.  Why?  There is a countdown to the expiration date of a federal law that will impact them badly if they wait until after the end of 2012 to close on that short sale of [...]

New Pew Study Finds Many Americans Think It’s Okay to Default on an Underwater Mortgage: Evaluating Your Options

Larry Tolchinsky | December 29, 2011

The Pew Research Center is one of the country’s most respected research firms, and here at year end, many are listening to what Pew is  reporting regarding Americans’ take on the foreclosure crisis and people not paying their mortgages.  What has Pew discovered? In answers to a Pew survey, thirty-six percent (36%) of Americans said [...]

Congress Fixing Foreclosure Mess: New Bill Proposes to Limit or Nix Deficiency Judgments on Homes in Proposed Fairness in Foreclosures Act

Larry Tolchinsky | December 8, 2011

It’s being called the Fairness in Foreclosures Act of 2011, although it’s proceeding through the United States House of Representatives as House Resolution 3566, and it’s a big deal to a lot of homeowners in trouble all across the country.  If this bill becomes federal law, there will be a limit of ONE YEAR on any [...]

Florida Deficiency Lawsuits Against Florida Homeowners Who Walked Away From Their Mortgages: Are You About to be Sued for the Deficiency Balance Left on Your Florida Mortgage? (Answer Likely is Yes)

Larry Tolchinsky | October 27, 2011

Florida has been in tough economic times for a long while now, and lots of Florida homeowners, stressed and frustrated, have chosen to move on — walking away from their homes and their mortgages.   This may have seemed like a smart idea at the time, or maybe the only idea at the time, but here’s [...]

Florida Foreclosure Crisis This Week: Feds Intro New Underwater Mortgage Help Via HARP and Florida Supreme Court Foreclosure Mediation Report is Released

Larry Tolchinsky | October 25, 2011

HARP was revised this week by the federal government in the hopes that up to 1 million Americans with underwater mortgages can get refinancing through a program overseen by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Expanding HARP is a big deal; President Obama held a news conference this week over in Vegas to give the details.   [...]