Tenants: Be aware of landlords facing foreclosure

Tenants: Be aware of landlords facing foreclosure

While South Florida’s falling housing prices may favor renting rather than buying right now, the recent real estate bubble is also creating new risks for tenants.

Plenty of homes and condos are available for lease because their owners can’t sell them, giving renters a variety of options. The problem is that many of the owners may not be on steady financial footing.

If they end up in foreclosure, tenants can be kicked out — despite having a lease.

”That’s happening. A lot of people are losing their homes,” said Samira Ghazal, a Miami consumer lawyer. “They don’t know if the landlord is paying the mortgage or not. Then they end up getting evicted.”

Foreigners get `upper hand’ in Fla. housing market [South Florida]

Foreigners get `upper hand’ in Fla. housing market [South Florida]

From atop any gleaming, half-sold condo project, South Florida’s housing market looks bleak.

Viewed from abroad, it looks brighter.

Just like everyone else, foreigners turned away from Florida’s housing market as the downturn took hold. Now, international shoppers from Europe and Latin America to Canada and South Africa are again scoping out bargains, agents say.

So far, most shoppers are just looking, and high property taxes and maintenance fees and the tightening mortgage market are a deterrent. But the outsiders see opportunity: The U.S. dollar has slid to record lows against the euro and some other currencies, home prices are falling, and the selection is huge and getting bigger. And the region remains a safe haven for sheltering wealth from tyrants and turmoil.

State Joins Inquiry of Unusual Loans [Tampa Bay Area]

State Joins Inquiry of Unusual Loans [Tampa Bay Area]

Hundreds of peculiar home sales and foreclosures clustered in low-income neighborhoods in south St. Petersburg have attracted the attention of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

The deals involved unusual mortgages uncovered last summer in a Tampa Tribune investigative report. The sales are tied to a real estate investment program run by a local businessman. Several buyers complained to police that they bought the properties at inflated values.

Ellen Wilcox, an investigator with FDLE, said the case was recently referred to her by the St. Petersburg Police Department, which turned over a spreadsheet of addresses.

“We’re looking into it,” Wilcox said.

‘Angels’ help woman escape foreclosure [Connecticut]

”Angels’ help woman escape foreclosure [Connecticut]

Maria Leon can’t stop smiling because, as she puts it, she got a second chance at a new life.

Her smile is a big change from January and an even bigger one from Thursday night, when it appeared all Leon’s options had been exhausted and the court would finally set a day that she and her four grandchildren would have to leave their Willow Street home.

But then came Monday, and State Superior Court Judge John F. Blawie vacated the foreclosure and set aside the sale of Leon’s house.

Leon’s house had been foreclosed upon and the bank actually bought it in an August sale, but somehow, the deed had never been transferred.

Kuhn’s Woes Threaten Revitalization Plans [Central Florida]

Kuhn’s Woes Threaten Revitalization Plans [Central Florida]

Cameron Kuhn, who has emerged in recent years as a major developer in downtown Orlando and Jacksonville, Fla., is under siege on numerous fronts, raising questions about the revitalizations of these two city centers.

Late last year, Mr. Kuhn defaulted on about $31 million in loans on land in Orlando and three of his Jacksonville properties, including his high-profile redevelopment of the SunTrust building into office condominiums. In January, Barclays Capital Real Estate Inc. filed a foreclosure action against the garage of his $140 million Plaza development, billed as the largest mixed-use development in downtown Orlando’s history.

Mr. Kuhn also is in danger of losing his house in Windermere in a foreclosure, and faces numerous lawsuits from contractors, companies that occupy his developments and others.

Mr. Kuhn, 48 years old, a Chicago-area native who began to make his mark in Orlando in the mid-1990s, blames the slowing economy and credit crunch. But he also accepts some of the blame for overextending himself as he tried to move into Jacksonville even as he had his hands full with projects in Orlando. “We bit off more than we could chew,” said Mr. Kuhn.

What will $200,000 or less buy in Lee County? [South Florida]

What will $200,000 or less buy in Lee County? [South Florida]

A conversation about single-family homes in Lee County with a pricetag under $200,000 would have been brief, two or three years ago.

Simply put, the pickings were slim as speculation and surging demand sent the real estate market skyward.

But oh what a difference a couple years can make.

Today, options for under $200,000 are plentiful, making available communities and amenities that would have been unlikely in November of 2005, when the market was near its peak.