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By John Hielscher | Herald-Tribune | “A popular tax break that has saved struggling Southwest Florida homeowners millions of dollars is slated to expire at the end of this year. The tax deduction on forgiven mortgage debt has been available for the past seven years, one of a number of measures intended to ease financial pressure broughtRead more

Eric Kalis | Palm Beach Post | The Real Deal | “For homeowners in Florida, obtaining a loan modification through the federal government is not necessarily preventing future defaults. The inspector general for the Troubled Asset Relief Program says 27 percent of Florida homeowners who modified mortgages through the Home Affordable Modification Program have onceRead more

Jeff Harrington | Tampa Bay Times |  “The latest job cuts will be split between two Chase locations near Tampa International Airport and are effective Oct. 11. JPMorgan Chase is closing several business units in Tampa set up to help distressed homeowners, a decision that signifies an improving economy even as it triggers more than 600Read more

Shanthi Bharatwaj | NuWire | “A total of 127,790 properties had foreclosure filings in June, down 14% from the previous month and down 35% from a year ago, reaching their lowest level since December 2006, according to a report released by RealtyTrac. In the first half of 2013, a total of 801,359 properties had a foreclosureRead more

Jonathan Stempel | Reuters | “Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) rejected allegations that greed and bad faith drove the bank and its workers to push distressed homeowners into foreclosure, rather than help them obtain loan modifications to which they were entitled. The second-largest U.S. bank made its argument in court filings on Friday, in an effortRead more

ILYCE GLINK / MONEYWATCH / “Starting this month, some lenders are offering certain homeowners loan modifications — without even being asked. Under a new plan created by the Federal Housing and Finance Administration, mortgage servicers must offer homeowners who are three to 24 months behind on their payments a plan to help them avoid foreclosure. The StreamlinedRead more

BY: ESTHER CHO | “As Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac continue their efforts to prevent millions of foreclosures, delinquency rates are also declining, with 60-plus delinquencies down to the lowest level since the first quarter of 2009, according to a report from the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA).    So far, efforts from the GSEs have led to nearly 2.8 millionRead more

By Michelle Conlin and Peter Rudegeair | (Reuters) – “Six former Bank of America Corp employees have alleged that the bank deliberately denied eligible home owners loan modifications and lied to them about the status of their mortgage payments and documents. The bank allegedly used these tactics to shepherd homeowners into foreclosure, as well asRead more

Drew Harwell, TampaBay Times Staff Writer | “Half a decade since the housing bust, many foreclosures are showing their age.A quarter of cases now in Hillsborough court are at least 3 years old. So who’s keeping Florida’s more than 350,000 pending foreclosures in court?Judges largely blame the banks. State court data show banks regularly delay casesRead more