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Article: housingwire.com “As part of the growing movement to further protect real estate agents and Realtors when they are showing a house, the state of Florida is currently considering legislation that would ensure harsher penalties for attacks on real estate agents. According to an article from the Palm Beach Post, the bill (SB 214) isRead more

Article: housingwire.com “It’s official. Confirming plans that HousingWire brought to light late last year and further revealed earlier this year, Nationstar Mortgage will indeed be launching a massive rebranding later this year and changing its name to Mr. Cooper. Nationstar CEO Jay Bray confirmed the company’s plan to rebrand as Mr. Cooper during a callRead more

Tampabay.com Article: “ST. PETERSBURG — This Friday’s foreclosure auction of the much-maligned Mosley Motel has been canceled because its owners have filed for bankruptcy. A nuisance for some of its Historic Kenwood neighbors, the Mosley has racked up more than $40,000 in city fines. Residents had hoped a new owner would improve the property. TheresaRead more

Article via: Noah Pransky, WTSP: “TAMPA BAY, Florida – Thousands of homeowners will be eligible for restitution after Florida’s attorney general struck an eight-figure settlement with KB Home, one of the largest homebuilders in the Southeast, over widespread construction defects and problematic business practices.  The deal comes three-and-a-half years after 10Investigates first exposed shoddy construction andRead more

By Nicholas Nehamas “Federal authorities on Wednesday announced a temporary anti-money-laundering crackdown on pricey homes bought secretly with cash in Miami-Dade County and New York City. The new policy will require title insurance companies to identify the true owners of shell companies that pay $1 million or more in cash for homes in Miami-Dade andRead more

Susan Taylor Martin, Times Senior Correspondent |Friday, March 13, 2015   “TAMPA — For Doreen Rosselli, Carrollwood’s Grande Oasis condominium has provided a lushly landscaped refuge from the cacophony of urban life. For Silviya Gregory, a young nurse from Bulgaria, Grande Oasis has meant home in a country where she has no family. And forRead more

Mary Shanklin | Orlando Sentinel | “More than 5,200 Orlando-area houses in foreclosure sat vacant during the second quarter, making the region one of the leading “zombie” foreclosure markets in the country, a new report shows. In Orange, Seminole, Lake and Osceola counties, 22,700 houses and condos were in some stage of foreclosure during theRead more

By Marcie Geffner of Bankrate.com “Buying a home is a challenging goal for most hopeful homeowners. But for those who have experienced a bankruptcy, foreclosure or short sale, the hurdles are even higher. Still, it’s not impossible to buy a home after financial difficulties, says Dan Keller, a mortgage banker with Hometown Lending in Everett, Wash. In fact,Read more

Pam Bondi | The Tampa Tribune | Opinion Page | “The U.S. House’s vote Tuesday night was a move in the right direction to stop the short-sighted implementation of the Biggert-Waters Act, which has dire consequences for Floridians, who would bear the brunt of the financial burden, and our housing market. Traveling throughout Florida asRead more

Christina Sturgis | Tampa Bay Times Blog | “Florida is first in an undesirable competition – the number of foreclosures, which can take terrible toll on Tampa families and communities. One of every 409 Florida homes is in foreclosure, as of the end of 2013. According to the report by RealtyTrac, the other top states forRead more