Stressed condos find help

Osprey Cove, a condominium in Estero, was dealing with a wave of foreclosures that cut off maintenance fees from many of its units.

The community’s property manager, Hayden & Associates, had to deal with “huge delinquencies” and traditional ways of dealing with them weren’t promising, Ken Hayden said.

“You throw them in the collections meat grinder with an attorney and I just don’t think the legal profession was prepared for it or adequately staffed for it,” he said. "We set out to find an alternative way.”

via Stressed condos find help .

Grandmother nearly loses condo to foreclosure after $4.70 fee balloons to nearly $3,000 | FLORIDA TODAY | floridatoday.com

For Geeta Ramcharitar, the ordeal began with a past due balance of $4.70 owed to her condominium association in Melbourne’s Venetian Village — and ballooned from there.

The threatened end: foreclosure on her two-bedroom condo.

The 56-year-old grandmother got lucky. County Court Judge William McLuan tossed out the foreclosure case brought by her condo association, ordering each side to pay their own attorney’s fees.

via Grandmother nearly loses condo to foreclosure after $4.70 fee balloons to nearly $3,000.

Florida flood insurance: FEMA’s redrawn maps mean many in Metro Orlando need costly flood insurance

The first disaster for Ron Benitez was losing his DeBary home to the massive flooding caused by Tropical Storm Fay in 2008.

Now, the retiree is facing a financial calamity: paying far more for flood insurance because of newly revised federal maps that have made his rebuilt home part of a high-risk flood zone.

Benitez, whose home was among 130 in DeBary flooded during Fay, used to carry a minimal flood-insurance policy. But with the new designation, his rates will climb sharply.

via Florida flood insurance: FEMA’s redrawn maps mean many in Metro Orlando need costly flood insurance .

Fannie Mae ignored robo-signing abuses in Florida foreclosures, investigation finds

Federal mortgage giant Fannie Mae was told in 2006 about faulty court documents filed by Florida foreclosure attorneys acting on its behalf but did nothing to correct the practices, an inspector general found.

A report issued Friday by the Federal Housing Finance Agency Office of Inspector General said an outside law firm Fannie Mae hired to investigate allegations of wrongdoing confirmed “unlawful” practices and stated that foreclosure attorneys were sacrificing accuracy for speed by filing false documents.

After learning of the attorney misconduct in 2006, Fannie Mae failed to make any improvements in its oversight of the firms.

via Fannie Mae ignored robo-signing abuses in Florida foreclosures, investigation finds.

Housing market is terrific, if you are rich

It’s starting to feel as if there are two housing markets. One for the rich — and international buyers — and one for everyone else.

Consider foreclosure-ravaged Detroit. In the historic Green Acres district, a haven for hipsters, a pristine, three-bedroom brick Tudor recently sold for $6,000 — about what a buyer would have paid during the Great Depression.

Yet just 15 miles away, in the posh suburban enclave of Birmingham, bidding wars are back. Multimillion-dollar mansions are selling quickly. Sales this August were up 21% from the previous year. The country club has ended its stealth discounts on new memberships. And Main Street’s retail storefronts are full.

via Housing market is terrific, if you are rich – USATODAY.com.

Apartment construction set to sweep Broward and Palm Beach counties

South Florida is about to go from condo bust to apartment boom.Developers are set to kick off a new round of housing construction with plans to build more than 4,000 rental apartments. Five years have passed since the collapse of the housing market brought an end to the condo construction craze that swept the region.Two high-rises are proposed in downtown Fort Lauderdale. Other projects being pitched include a cluster of towers with almost 400 apartments on Young Circle in Hollywood and a sprawling complex with almost the same number of units at the old Levitz shopping center in Boca Raton.

via Apartment construction set to sweep Broward and Palm Beach counties.