Attorneys in foreclosure case return to court [Baltimore]

Attorneys in foreclosure case return to court [Baltimore]

Lawyers for Kwaku Atta Poku, a Columbia taxi owner who lost his townhouse to foreclosure and eviction through no fault of his own, are back in court seeking help for him.

They asked the Maryland Court of Appeals to rule whether it was right for the Court of Special Appeals to dismiss Atta Poku’s case on a technical issue rather than for substance. In addition, they want the Howard County Circuit Court to award Atta Poku the proceeds from the sale of his home as well as punitive damages.

Meanwhile, Atta Poku and his wife and three young children are facing the possible loss of their rented townhouse when the lease expires late next month. The friend who obtained it for them because of Atta Poku’s ruined credit rating fears that his own credit might be endangered if the situation goes on too long. Also, the two-bedroom townhouse is too small for the family of five.

“I’m not allowed to be there with that many children. I’ve run out of money,” said Atta Poku, 55, adding that the family has tried to keep quiet to avoid more trouble. When they were evicted last year, he took his wife, Beatrice, and children, Kofi, 4, Afua, 3, and Amma, 1, to area hotels until they found new lodgings.

The year’s hot investment? Apartment buildings [The Twin Cities]

The year’s hot investment? Apartment buildings [The Twin Cities]

Flat-roofed and 50 years old, Centennial Gardens in Roseville is a sturdy 190-unit apartment building in need of a facelift – not a show stopper. Nonetheless, the brick complex attracted 12 written offers when it hit the market in April and is scheduled to close in a few weeks.

Unlike houses and condos languishing on the market around the Twin Cities, apartment buildings are selling like Bomb Pops in July.

Investors, previously emboldened by low interest rates, chased them during the condo conversion craze. Although the recent surge in interest rates could cool things, they’re chasing them again for somewhat more sober reasons: rent.

Apartment vacancies are down, and rents are rising. That’s bad news for renters, of course, but it’s music to the ears of owners, investors and their brokers.

Renting for Monthly Loss Could Result in Long-Term Gain

Renting for Monthly Loss Could Result in Long-Term Gain

I received an email from a reader in Santa Barbara County, Calif., regarding the sale of her house that, once selling fees and closing costs are paid out, she would have to come to the table with a check to get out of the property.

“Right now, I believe my house to be worth around $550,000. I need to move, and cannot decide whether selling at a loss, or leasing out for a couple years is the best move,” she writes. “There are still many properties on the market in my town. I will only be able to recoup a little more than half of my [monthly] payment in rent each month.

“If I can afford to make up the difference for a year or two, would it be better to wait and sell when it has appreciated more? Right now, I would have to incur a loss just selling, as I would not even cover the costs of the Realtors fees. And the loss would not be tax deductible, as opposed to turning it into a rental and then deducting all losses next year or in the next few years. I am not a real estate investor, just a person with a house to sell because I am moving.”

Property Taxes

Property Taxes

While most Florida homeowners are itching for a break on their property taxes, Fisher Island’s wealthy residents have been getting breaks for years.

Residents of the exclusive island at the foot of South Beach have gotten accustomed to challenging the property appraiser’s assessments before the Miami-Dade County Value Adjustment Board —and saving big on property taxes.

The assessment cuts approved by the county board have translated to $15.2 million in lost tax revenue from 2002 to 2005, according to a report by Service Employees International Union Local 11, which is trying to organize island workers.

The tax-trimming strategy extended into the 2006 tax year as island homeowners filed more than 540 petitions with the board to challenge their property valuations.

“Every American has a right to appeal his property taxes, and many Americans choose to do so. The people of Fisher Island paid $21.5 million in property taxes last year and received virtually no services from the county,” Fisher Island Community Association president Mark James said. “We have no apologies for our right to appeal our property taxes.”

1% mortgage – from joy to time bomb

1% mortgage – from joy to time bomb

A disabled man on a fixed income risks losing his home over his adjustable rate mortgage.

The official-looking notice appeared in his mailbox last year. To Denith Harrigan, the promise of an interest rate as low as 1 percent was too good to ignore.

Disabled and on a fixed income of $2,100 a month, Harrigan could finally pay off credit card debts and fix his leaky pool. What a deal.

Or so he thought.

Boca condo faces foreclosure [South Florida]

Boca condo faces foreclosure [South Florida]

In the clearest sign yet that the region’s real estate boom has ended, Miami-based Ocean Bank confirmed Wednesday that it has filed a $50 million foreclosure action against the developers of a Boca Raton condo conversion.

The foreclosure may be the largest filed in Palm Beach County since the red-hot residential real estate market began cooling early last year. And analysts say it’s a precursor of things to come as the lenders who fueled the frenzy with easy-to-get loans continue to tighten the purse strings.

“It’s probably just the tip of the iceberg, the first of many more to come over the next couple of years,” said Jack McCabe of McCabe Research and Consulting in Deerfield Beach.

Ocean Bank said NRW Development LLC, a South Florida real estate development firm, and six individuals owe $50 million on a condo conversion known as Villa Mare Beach & Yacht Club Residences, a 40-year-old apartment complex formerly known as Oceanview/Lakeview apartments.