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By LYNN HATTER | Florida received more than $330 million as part of a multi-state foreclosure fraud settlement with the nation’s biggest banks. Other states have used their share of the dollars to plug budget holes, and they’ve been criticized for not spending the money on housing-related issues. That’s not the case in Florida. Still, as theRead more

A split has emerged between the Florida House and Senate on how to use $200 million the state received as part of a multi-state agreement with five major lenders. The main spending panel in the Senate will take up a proposed committee bill (SB 7146) Wednesday that would divide the money into a number ofRead more

“Florida Senator Bill Nelson wants the U.S. bailout program overseer to determine why Florida is missing out on many intended benefits for homeowners facing foreclosure that was suppose to come from the so-called Hardest Hit Fund. In a letter accusing Florida officials of “mismanagement” and “inaction,” Nelson is seeking an investigation by the special inspectorRead more

BayNews9 | BRADENTON — “Florida’s foreclosure rates led the nation in February for the sixth consecutive month. And the Bay area was among the communities hit hard. According to Bay News 9’s partner newspaper the Bradenton Herald, the Bay area was the fourth-highest for foreclosures in the country. And the Manatee-Sarasota area jumped to 13th. RealtyTrac, which tracks foreclosuresRead more

Big banks are finding a way to benefit from what was supposed to be their punishment in the robo-signing scandal. In Florida, they have spent 75 percent of $7.7 billion in settlement outlays approving short sales and forgiving home-equity loans, earning credit for debts they were unlikely to collect or sales that would have happenedRead more

By Kenneth R. Harney, Special to the Times |   “WASHINGTON — Jeanette Ogle, a 92-year-old widow with a reverse mortgage on her house, got a birthday surprise last week: She did not lose her home at a scheduled foreclosure auction that had drawn scrutiny from federal and state agencies and consumer advocates. Because ofRead more

 Drew Harwell, Times Staff Writer | “Florida posted the country’s highest foreclosure rate in January for the fifth month in a row, as years of bad loans continued to blast through the pipeline, data released Thursday by research firm RealtyTrac show. One of every 300 Florida homes received a foreclosure filing, double the national average. Those noticesRead more

By Drew Harwell, Times Staff Writer | TAMPA — When Charles Dowman, a hydrogeologist moving from San Francisco, began house-hunting with his wife and two children, he sought a charming, craftsman-style home in South Tampa and didn’t mind a fixer-upper. But after looking, and missing out on, about 35 houses, Dowman found “it was hard toRead more

Look, I know what you are thinking. Every day, it seems, comes news of another mortgage lawsuit or settlement, including a foreclosure abuse deal between HSBC and federal regulators announced Friday. It’s hard to keep them all straight. Frankly, if you didn’t lose your home to foreclosure, or come close to doing so, you might notRead more

WASHINGTON (AP) — British bank HSBC will pay $249 million to settle federal complaints that its U.S. division wrongfully foreclosed on homeowners who should have been allowed to stay in their homes. The agreement with the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is similar to deals with 12 other banksRead more