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Christopher O’Donnell | Tampa Tribune | “Two years ago, Shanoah Washington’s home on Preston Street in the Melrose Mercy neighborhood was a gutted shell. Thieves had ripped out the air handler and plumbing. Gone, too, were windows, electrical wiring and most of the kitchen. The home attracted the attention of St. Petersburg City Council ChairmanRead more

“Realty Trac has released new data from July showing the Florida counties with the highest foreclosure rate.” See slideshow here

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

Roger Weeder | First Coast News | “Foreclosure courts are in full swing across the state, including Duval County, which has 2,700 cases that date back to before 2010. Six judges are handling the load, holding hearings four days a week and clearing out nearly 300 cases a week, according to the Clerk of Courts office. In GreenRead more

Alyssa Gerace | Reverse Mortgage | “On Tuesday, Florida will reportedly announce a new program aimed reverse mortgage borrowers in the state who have defaulted on their loans after struggling to remain current on their taxes and insurance. The Florida Housing Finance Corporation is introducing the Elderly Mortgage Assistance Program as part of its $1 billion Hardest Hit Fund. It’sRead more

By Josh Salman | Herald-Tribune | “Florida’s $1 billion program to help prevent foreclosures in the wake of the housing crisis continues to diversify. The Florida Housing Finance Corp. announced Tuesday it would earmark $25 million of its Hardest-Hit Fund to help elderly homeowners with reverse mortgages. The agency says the new program will help recession-battered FloridiansRead more

Prashant Gopal | Bloomberg | “The share of U.S. mortgages that are seriously delinquent fell to a five-year low as job gains help borrowers keep up on payments while rising home prices enable others to sell. The percentage of home loans that were more than 90 days behind or in the foreclosure process fell to 5.65 percent in theRead more

Drew Harwell | Tampa Bay Times | “Florida is seeing fewer foreclosure filings, but so is everyone else, keeping the Sunshine State on top of the national heap for foreclosure rates, new data from research firm RealtyTrac show. About 70,000 statewide housing units saw a foreclosure filing in July, August and September, down 7 percentRead more

Press Release | Digital Journal | “RealtyTrac® (www.realtytrac.com), the nation’s leading source for comprehensive housing data, today released its U.S. Foreclosure Market Report™ for September and the third quarter of 2013, which shows foreclosure filings — default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions — were reported on 131,232 U.S. properties in September, a 2 percent increase from theRead more