News About Properties

Birmingham banks going to great lengths to rid books of bad loans and real estate

When Regions Bank has bad loans — and it has a lot of unpaid and delinquent ones right now — they get turned to Cash.

Jeff Cash, that is. He is Birmingham-based Regions’ point man on clearing out bad debt. Half-built strip mall in Ocala on the hook to Regions for the mortgage? Cash knows an investor in Chicago who specializes in buying and rehabbing troubled retail centers. Stalled condo development in Miami? Cash is the kind of guy who can put together a syndicate of buyers with a quickness.

“It often comes down to our last recourse, and that is selling the asset,” said Cash, who is based in Regions’ Florida zone. “We are talking about situations where there is no more collateral, and no more cash.”

Why should board check out renter?

I own a condominium that I rent. On the application for lease, it states that a background and credit check will be done at the owner’s expense. A board should not have the need for such a check, as the tenant pays the rent directly to me. What are the statutes that give an association board permission to do a background check?

L.F., De Bary

A: You must check your documents first to determine if the board has the right to screen and review prospective buyers and renters. Sometimes it is called right of first refusal (FS 718.612).

While the credit check would seem to only protect you, the facts are that residents do interact with other neighbors. It is a way to check that your renter does not have any skeletons in the closet. In addition, the board can inform you if you have a renter with a poor credit record, which might put you in a weak financial position to pay your fees.

Missing Miami Beach developer may face arrest [South Florida]

Developer Michael Stern — the chief witness in a Miami Beach City Hall bribery probe — has repeatedly refused to return from Uruguay for hearings in his bankruptcy case, prompting a judge to threaten him with arrest.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Mark found Stern in contempt of court after the developer missed a Wednesday court hearing in defiance of a previous order. The judge said he would give Stern one last chance to appear; otherwise, he will order the U.S. Marshals Service to arrest Stern.

“Mr. Stern has willfully refused to cooperate in the administration of this bankruptcy case which he voluntarily filed,'’ Mark wrote in the contempt order.

Condo developer wears two hats [South Florida]

Q: I am a condominium owner in a complex that has approximately 200 units, of which approximately half are rental units waiting to be bought. The owner of the property owns these units and calls all the shots. We have one meeting per year, which means nothing, since the owner controls everything. I would like to know if we are, under law, entitled to an outside audit. Also, where I can get copies of county or state regulations regarding condominiums?

A: First, read your documents to see if they require a type of year-end financial report. The condominium statute FS 718.111 requires the following: An association with total annual revenues of $100,000 or more, but less than $200,000, shall prepare compiled financial statements. An association with total annual revenues of at least $200,000, but less than $400,000, shall prepare reviewed financial statements. An association with total annual revenues of $400,000 or more shall prepare audited financial statements. A copy of the FS 718 can be found on the state’s website http://leg.state.fl.us/; follow the links to the statutes.

Vacation home market heats up

Homebuyers looking for bargains are finding the time is right to make an offer on a second home.

Plentiful choices, attractive interest rates and low prices are spurring activity in the vacation-home sector, industry members say. Another factor: uncertain returns elsewhere.

“People are telling me they’re pulling their money out of stocks and their 401(k),” said Cathy Nichols, broker associate at Tropical Realty & Investments of Brevard.

She estimates that 90 percent of the closings she and business partner Sara Forst Griffin have completed in recent months have been vacation homes.

A gilded headache [South Florida]

Jorge Perez joined Donald Trump Jr. Friday for a familiar task: selling a posh and pricey condominium high-rise on the ocean.

How hard has that become lately? Perez says he is directing most of his sales energy toward people who have already signed sales contracts to buy units.

“We are going to concentrate our efforts on the existing buyers first,'’ Perez said in the glass-walled “cigar room'’ of the Trump Hollywood, a 41-story oceanfront condo where the cheapest unit sells for about $1 million. “What can we do to get you to close?'’

Some buyers who once felt fortunate to get in early with a luxe condo like the Trump Hollywood now are regretting their decisions, in some cases suing to break contracts. Others are simply walking away from deposits that can top $200,000.