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Jann Swanson | Mortgage News Daily | “Foreclosure activity in September was up 2 percent from August, RealtyTrac said today, but the third quarter saw the lowest level of foreclosure related filings since the financial crisis began.  The company’s U.S. Foreclosure Market ReportTM covering the two periods showed 131,232 filings in September including default notices, scheduled auctions, and bank repossessions orRead more

Michael Sasso | Tribune Staff | “An encouraging jump in home prices in the Sunshine State belies a more troubling fact below the surface: the number of foreclosed homes in banks’ possession keeps rising. RealtyTrac, a national firm that lists foreclosed homes for sale, estimates that 83,238 homes in Florida currently are classified as “real estateRead more

MARTHA BRANNIGAN | Miami Herald | “Even as Florida’s housing market is showing solid recovery with impressive gains in prices and sales volume, the state led the nation in foreclosures completed in the year ended in August; no other state was even close, according to CoreLogic. Of the 658,463 foreclosures completed nationwide during the 12-monthRead more

Conor Dougherty | The Wall Street Journal | “The number of foreclosed homes continues to fall across the country, which is helping the U.S. housing market creep back to normal. There were some 48,000 foreclosures completed in August, down 35% from a year ago, according to a release by CoreLogic. At the same time the inventoryRead more

JANN SWANSON | Mortgage News Daily | “CoreLogic said today that the shadow inventory or pending supply of homes at the end of July consisted of 1.9 million homes with an approximate market value of $293 billion. The shadow inventory is a measure of the number of properties that are seriously delinquent, in foreclosure or held as REORead more

Celia Watson Seupel, Special to CNBC | “When real estate agent John Lebron opened EZ Investments in Tampa, Fla., he may have already been planning fraud. His very first EZ Investments transaction involved selling a distressed property to his sister, then to his brother-in-law, the kind of “non-arms-length” flopping that tips authorities to collusion. LebronRead more

By John Hielscher |  “In 2009, nearly half of all Sarasota and Manatee county homeowners with mortgages owed more money on their loans than their properties were worth. Thanks to rising home prices and an improving economy, the percentage of so-called “underwater” homeowners regionwide has dropped significantly. But the Sarasota-Manatee region still has one of the nation’sRead more

By Michael Braga, Herald-Tribune | “Florida had the highest foreclosure rate in the U.S. in July, according to the Florida Legislature Office of Economic and Demographic Research. One in every 326 housing units was in foreclosure. Nine of the top 10 cities in the country – in terms of foreclosure rates – were in Florida – Jacksonville,Read more

By: Ken Amaro  | firstcoastnews.com “JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Letitia Early, 51, lost her job in January 2008 and her ability to pay the mortgage on her home. But Early said she never lost her hope. “I limped along and used my savings,” she said, “Everything I had to make my payments.” She was doing everythingRead more

Solomon Poretsky, Demand Media | “Florida’s legislature passed the “Florida Fair Foreclosure Act” on July 1, 2013. It’s designed to help clear up Florida’s large backlog of foreclosures. As written, it contains protections for both lenders and borrowers and spans both owner-occupied and investment properties. Even with the homeowner protections, the law is unpopular withRead more