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By KEVIN WIATROWSKI | Tribune staff | “An audit of Tampa’s Neighborhood Empowerment division has found the agency failed to collect more than $450,000 in registration fees for foreclosed properties this year. The report prompted a dressing down of division director Jake Slater during Thursday’s Tampa City Council meeting. Slater’s division oversees the city’s foreclosure registryRead more

Les Christie  @CNNMoney | “States like Maryland, Oregon and New Jersey, which maintained relatively stable markets after the housing bubble popped, saw new foreclosure filings climb by double- and triple-digit percentages in July, according to RealtyTrac. In Maryland, for example, new foreclosure filings skyrocketed 275% compared with a year earlier. When it came to overall foreclosure activity, includingRead more

PRWeb.com | Digital Journal | HARP Mortgage Lender (http://harpmortgagelender.com) , a national network of mortgage professionals who are approved for the Home Affordable Refinance Program, reported that Florida HARP applications have dropped in the second quarter of 2013 as mortgage rates continue to rise. The Florida Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) was revised in late 2011Read more

by Kim Miller | Palm Beach Post | “A steep drop in Palm Beach County foreclosure filings last month may be the result of the state’s new fast-track foreclosure law, which requires lenders to file specific documents with the initial case. Attorney Heather Hatch, (L), looks over documents with Louise Plasse, (R), a lawyer fromRead more

ASSOCIATED PRESS | “President Barack Obama says the housing market is healing, but it’s time to turn the page on the “bubble-and-bust mentality” that led to the market’s collapse. In his weekly radio and Internet address, Obama calls on Congress to let all Americans refinance at current low rates. He wants more help for first-time homebuyers andRead more

Tim Mullaney | USA TODAY | “After years of being the USA’s foreclosure laughingstocks, Arizona and California now have better credit than the rest of us. That’s from an analysis released last week by Fannie Mae, which chronicled the performance of its $2.8 trillion loan portfolio. In states hit hardest by the housing bust — Arizona,Read more

Allison Halliday | Realty Biz News | “According to an article by AOL , home foreclosure filings in the US reached a six and half year low in June, based on figures from a RealtyTrac. Apparently there were 127,790 properties with foreclosure filings for that month, a decrease of 14% compared to May, and a massive 35% decrease comparedRead more

by Reuters |   “NEW YORK — U.S. home foreclosure filings tumbled in June to a 6½-year low, a further sign the housing market is getting back on better footing, a report from RealtyTrac showed Thursday. Overall, 127,790 properties had foreclosure filings last month, down 14 percent from May, and down 35 percent from a year earlier. ItRead more

by Kim Miller | “The goliath air conditioning system in the Palm Beach County courthouse is chugging full tilt as the temperature nears 90-degrees outside and, up on the fourth floor, the foreclosure court sign-in line grows. It’s been more than five years since Florida was rocked by the housing crisis, three years since theRead more

wftv.com | “Facing one of the largest backlogs of foreclosures in the state, central Florida’s Ninth Circuit Court has cleared 41 percent of its backlog since June 2012. However, new numbers obtained by Eyewitness News show the court entered May 2013 with 28,000 cases still pending and another 1,000 new cases filed every month. AddRead more