Beachside RV park riles condo owners

Plans for a beachside RV park have riled up a bunch of condo owners at Boardwalk Beach Resort. “They caught everybody off guard,” condo owner John Bienkowski said Wednesday. “I think a lot of people felt blindsided by this.” A rezoning request by Resort Hospitality Enterprises placed on Monday’s agenda of the city Planning Board …

Rental income may not help refinancers qualify for mortgage

The common myth among refinancing homeowners is that the mortgage industry will count the rental income they are receiving from their homes. In fact, rental income will not count toward the borrower’s qualifying income, even though the homeowner is reporting it on his tax returns, unless the subject property is a legal and conforming multi-unit …

Builder moves on to a new enterprise

Mercedes Homes LLC, for nearly 30 years one of Brevard County’s most prominent home builders, is ending operations two years after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. An outside executive management team brought in by the consortium of leading creditors from the bankruptcy case recently took over operations of the Suntree-headquartered company and announced its intentions …

Inheritance poses investment possibilities and puzzles

When his father died last summer, editor and tax preparer Danny Marcus found himself faced with an unexpected problem: figuring out what to do with his inheritance. Marcus, 60, was both thrilled and overwhelmed by the possibilities. Should he pay off the mortgage? Buy a condo in Florida? Save more for his retirement? And if …

Law exempts forgiven foreclosure debt from income on tax return

Several years ago, we were talked into getting what I believe was a predatory loan – a negatively amortizing mortgage for 100 percent of the purchase price of our home. The loan broker assured us we could refinance the following year to a more traditional mortgage. We paid the minimum monthly payment required, which didn’t …

Florida justice shuts down foreclosure mediation program

Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Charles Canady shut down the state’s 2-year-old foreclosure mediation program Monday, after low success rates and criticism from both lenders and borrowers deemed the program unsustainable. The court system, which has faced a torrent of foreclosure cases in the past several years, has seen its budgets cut and staff reduced. …