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winknews.com | “RealtyTrac® (www.realtytrac.com), the leading online marketplace for real estate data, today released a report showing that as of June owners had vacated 167,680 foreclosure properties nationwide, representing 20 percent of all U.S. properties in the foreclosure process. These owner-vacated foreclosures are in addition to 544,274 bank-owned homes nationwide that have been foreclosed onRead more

Posted by Kerri Ann Panchuk | “When Florida’s Governor Rick Scott signed House Bill 87 – the so-called foreclosure Rocket Docket bill – he had no idea he was opening another can of worms and potentially giving foreclosure defense attorneys more tools in their arsenal to delay foreclosures. The bill was passed into law to deal withRead more

  Article By: Alexander Dobrev | “House Bill 87, also known as the Florida Fair Foreclosure Act, has successfully made its way through both chambers of the legislature, ordered “enrolled” as of the date of this writing, and should be on its way to the Governor’s desk in the very near future. So what does thisRead more

By Jennifer Liberto @CNNMoney | Tampa homeowners probably need the government’s help more than in other places. After all, Florida’s Tampa Bay reported the nation’s third highest rate of foreclosures as recently as May. But those seeking in-person help from the government will be out of luck. The federal housing department, which handles such things as emergency placementsRead more

By Lauren Carroll, Times Staff Writer | “Homeowners facing foreclosure should prepare for speedier judgment than they might expect. Last week, Gov. Rick Scott approved legislation intended to expedite the foreclosure process, which led the Pinellas-Pasco Circuit to make changes that will affect lenders and buyers. Currently, the average Florida foreclosure case lasts about 900 days. ChiefRead more

By Mary Shanklin, Orlando Sentinel | A homeowner-advocacy group is pressuring Florida Gov. Rick Scott to veto a bill that would expedite foreclosures in the state starting July 1. The new state law would allow banks to complete foreclosures without court hearings, unless a homeowner requests to have a specific case heard by a judge.In the past, allRead more

By Michael Estrin of Bankrate.com “You dream of taking ownership of a vacant home by living in it. Then legal reality sets in. Describing himself as a “savvy investor,” a man used an arcane property-law doctrine known as adverse possession to squat in a vacant Dallas-area home. Kenneth Robinson’s gambit cost him $16 in filing fees paid to theRead more

WinkNews | WASHINGTON, D.C.- U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) wants federal regulators to investigate and crack down on the mortgage industry’s inaccurate reporting of short sales as more financially harmful foreclosures in many consumers’ credit reports. The Florida Democrat represents a state that continues to be one of the worst in the nation for theRead more

Julie Schmit, USA TODAY | Foreclosure activity in April fell to its lowest level in 74 months, but action is ramping up in some states, says a national foreclosure tracker. In April, one of every 905 U.S. housing units received a foreclosure filing, market watcher RealtyTrac says. That was the lowest level since February 2007Read more

By ASSOCIATED PRESS |   “TALLAHASSEE — With tens of thousands of foreclosure cases clogged in the state’s courts, the Florida Supreme Court is signing off on a plan to use lawyers — and not judges — to handle them. The court on Thursday issued an order that will allow chief judges across the state to use “generalRead more