2nd developer sues Hackensack lender [North Jersey]

2nd developer sues Hackensack lender [North Jersey]

A Florida developer has accused Hackensack’s Kennedy Funding Inc. of failing to repay $525,000 from an unsuccessful loan application.

A lawsuit filed by Royale Luau Resort LLC of Destin, Fla., in U.S. District Court in Newark claims the company made the payment to Kennedy Funding as part of the 2005 application process for a $92 million loan.

Kennedy Funding, which calls itself “America’s leading hard-money lender,” makes asset-backed commercial bridge loans of $1 million to $100 million, often where other lenders will not. The company says it sometimes does so in as few as five days.

Jordan B. De Flora, an attorney for Kennedy Funding, declined to comment on the facts of the case. But he said the company will vigorously defend itself.

Florida business owners might see tax relief

Florida business owners might see tax relief

Owners of small apartment buildings and mom-and-pop businesses who have faced massive increases in their tax bills could see some relief under a plan that is moving swiftly through the Florida Legislature.

A bill passed 13-0 by the House Government Efficiency & Accountability Council Wednesday would change the way properties are assessed, potentially reducing taxes dramatically and allowing property owners to pass on the savings to tenants.

Under current law, property appraisers base the value of properties on their development potential, known as ”highest and best use,” regardless of what kind of structure is sitting on the land.

But at every stop, the scope of the bill proposed by Rep. Carlos Lopez-Cantera, a Miami Republican, has shrunk. Meanwhile, Senate leaders have balked at moving ahead with a similar plan.

Condo converter’s debts pile up [South Florida]

Condo converter’s debts pile up [South Florida]

Warren Hickernell looked like the boldest contrarian in the Southwest Florida real estate market last year.

He spent millions changing motels and apartment buildings into condominiums long after the conversion trend seemed spent.

But with banks foreclosing on six of his 18 conversion projects — demanding repayment of more than $17 million — Hickernell now looks like a gambler whose luck ran out after he kept letting it ride on red.

To make matters worse, Hickernell and his wife, Mary Lynn Desjarlais, find their names linked to Daniel Prewett, a felon who served time in a New York state prison for insurance fraud in the 1980s and was recently arrested in Italy on money laundering charges related to a cocaine deal.

Builder allows customers to use forfeited deposits

Builder allows customers to use forfeited deposits

Frenzied flippers have walked away from contracts to purchase homes as the real estate market has slowed across Florida.

In their dust, they’ve left behind cash.

Rather than keep the cash, Taylor Woodrow is offering other buyers the opportunity to use forfeited deposits toward the purchase of a new home at a few of its communities, including the upscale Vasari Country Club in Bonita Springs.

“They will be able to buy a home that already has the deposit in place,” said Tim Diers, director of sales and marketing for Taylor Woodrow’s Southwest Division.

Condo switchers flee Florida

Condo switchers flee Florida

Miami’s condo market has nothing in common with its weather forecast these days; it’s freezing cold with a chance of bad investment.

That might explain why more Florida condo converters are showing up in the Triangle.

Meet Haim Einhorn. He has spent decades converting rentable apartments to for-sale residences in South Florida. But when Miami’s condo market went south, he headed north.

“Florida is saturated,” he says. “I saw the balloon popping. That drew my attention to get out.”

Hoteliers walk a fine line

Hoteliers walk a fine line

With pictures of kids hanging on the office walls and rooms named after Gabriella, Francesca and Nick, the Captiva Beach Resort bears all the hallmarks of a family business.

But the people who are most interested in the future of this 20-room inn on Siesta Key spend just a few days or weeks a year here.

“I absolutely love this place — as you know,” Cindy Sheetz of Atlanta said to owner Robert Ispaso as she and her husband, George, checked in for the ninth year in a row. “It’s like coming home when you’ve been here that many times.”

The Sheetzes keep their favorite place in mind long before vacation time. George Sheetz recognized the beach in an Atlanta Journal-Constitution travel article, which the couple clipped and sent to Ispaso.