Homeowners teeter [Colorado]

Homeowners teeter [Colorado]

If foreclosures continue on their current pace, Larimer County’s foreclosure rate is expected to increase by about 20 percent by the end of the year.

Seventy-five percent of those foreclosures are the result of refinancing, said Kathi Williams, director of the Colorado Division of Housing in Denver.

Foreclosure statistics for January through March show one in 275 households filed for foreclosure. That equals more than 900 homeowners who have lost or are in danger of losing their homes.

In Weld County, the ratio is one in 124.

Battle over? Not quite [Florida]

Battle over? Not quite [Florida]

Six months after the locks on their timeshare units were reportedly “glued” shut, Camelot owners have their condominium back – at least for now.

The lengthy, complicated and ongoing legal battle over ownership of the building began in December after the county seized and subsequently sold the 24-unit waterfront property to Luke Investments for unpaid taxes.

The timeshare owners filed a lawsuit challenging the tax sale, arguing that all of the more than 900 timeshare owners should have been notified of the delinquent taxes.

More homeowners struggle with mortgages they can’t afford

More homeowners struggle with mortgages they can’t afford

Sarah Portales wants to keep paying her mortgage on time, but she’s got a problem. Her monthly payments are $3,500 and her income is slightly less than that. All the efforts this San Jose custodial supervisor has made to find a way to refinance her loan into something she can afford have so far led nowhere.

Portales is the face of a problem that is troubling the real estate market in San Jose and across the country: As the residential market flattens and lending standards grow tougher, thousands of subprime borrowers are confronting mortgages they can’t afford, with few options to refinance into new loans. Mortgage delinquency and foreclosure rates have surged.

On a comparative basis, Santa Clara County still has relatively low rates of delinquency and foreclosure compared with California’s Central Valley and other hard-hit areas. Data shows that most of the local mortgage delinquencies are found in lower-income neighborhoods.

Citizens steels for flood of business [Central Florida]

Citizens steels for flood of business [Central Florida]

Florida’s small-time commercial landlords and many of the small-business owners who rent space from them have been hit with the same fast-rising insurance premiums that have been shocking homeowners since a series of hurricanes raked the state in 2004-05.

Earlier this year, lawmakers handed the problem to Citizens Property Insurance Corp., the state-backed insurer of last resort, whose commercial coverage until now has been limited to high-risk coastal areas.

As a result, Citizens will offer windstorm coverage to commercial-property owners statewide starting June 1 — the official start of the 2007 hurricane season. It could find itself flooded with applications.

As real estate market loses sizzle, landlords offer more deals [South Florida]

As real estate market loses sizzle, landlords offer more deals [South Florida]

When Denise McGill moved to Palm Beach County from rural North Carolina two years ago, she was stunned at the high cost of housing. So she found a roommate and resigned herself to renting.

“In retrospect, I definitely did the right thing,” said McGill, 38, an assistant photojournalism professor at Palm Beach Atlantic University in West Palm Beach. “I’m so glad I didn’t buy because I would have bought at the peak of the market.”

South Florida’s rental market became one of the hottest in the nation in recent years, thanks to skyrocketing housing costs and a surge of condominium conversions that shrank the inventory of apartments. With home prices declining, many renters are staying put, hoping prices fall even further and waiting to see what Florida legislators do to address soaring property taxes.

Better-heeled failing home economics too

Better-heeled failing home economics too

Sheriff’s Deputy Mike Strickland is a postman of bad news, delivering eviction notices in the western stretch of San Bernardino County.

He is armed with a Glock .45, which he seldom draws, and Scotch tape, which he goes through in prodigious amounts while posting court orders on doors and windows.

The deputy spends most of his days at down-market apartment complexes, where the destitute, the addicted and the forlorn fitfully live. But in recent months he has begun venturing into neighborhoods with spacious homes and groomed yards, bringing his legal warnings to those who have fallen hopelessly behind on their mortgages.