Underwater borrower should consider less traditional refinancing

Need some advice on dealing with a homeowners association? Is a short sale your best option for unloading your home? Lawyer and real estate consultant Gary M. Singer will answer your housing questions in this space each Friday. To ask Gary a question, click here. Q: I have a $42,000 mortgage at 8.726%. I want …

Orange foreclosure sales: inflated sales prices

Orange is the only Central Florida county handling foreclosure-auction paperwork in a way that can allow sale prices to be artificially inflated, resulting in higher profits for investors while misleading new buyers and lenders. Officials on Friday were still trying to determine what was in it for the investors, who paid more documentary-stamp taxes on …

Homeowner’s foreclosure case alleging fraud heads to state’s high court

A South Florida homeowner who alleges the mortgage foreclosure action against him was tainted by fraudulent paperwork will have his case reviewed by the Florida Supreme Court, in a closely watched action that could reshape state law. The 4th District Court of Appeal had asked the state’s high court to decide the case as matter …

Canalfront homes at half the ’05 price

Like Bird Key in Sarasota Bay, Country Club Shores on Longboat Key was a planned community. Developed during the 1960s by the Arvida Corp. to provide more homes on the water, it was built on dredged land in five phases. There are no through streets, so the neighborhood is quiet — an obvious plus to …

Program to help hard-hit homeowners to launch

Beginning April 18, unemployed and underemployed struggling Volusia and Flagler county homeowners have a new program that could help them avoid foreclosure and stay in their homes. The Florida Housing Finance Corp. announced Tuesday that it will begin accepting aid applications statewide April 18 for the Florida Hardest Hit Fund program. The U.S. Treasury Department …

A Niche in the Wreckage of Florida Real Estate

One recent morning, Shannon Moore raced through a musty pink house — three bedrooms, two baths — that was advertised as having “good bones” and “primed for renovation.” As in many recently foreclosed homes in Florida, the appliances and air-conditioner were missing from this one, either taken by the previous residents or stolen. ”It’s not …