Foreclosed Properties Data Articles

Filing fees on several civil lawsuits in Florida have been increased in an effort to generate revenues to boost the waning finances of the courts system. And the biggest increase is made on filing fees for repo properties.

The standard fee for a foreclosure case filing was $295 per claim or counterclaim, with the scale of filing fees adjusting to the amount of the claim. For example, a claim or counterclaim of less than $50,000 requires a fee of $395. For repo properties filings between $50,000 up to $250,000, the fee is pegged at $900. And over $250,000 claim calls for a fee of up to $1,900.

According to Charlie Green, Lee County Clerk of Court, the office has amassed about $14.6 million in filling fees from October last year to May 2009. The amount increases based on the fee hike but it is unclear just how much because of the variation in increases. Between October last year to May of this year, a total of 16,433 filings for repo properties were made.

Author of the bill, Florida Senator Victor Crist said that lawmakers are facing a deficit of $6 billion and budget cuts are inevitable. He said that filing fee increases were necessary. Increases also cover probate, family and civil court fees.

Crist explained that the looming budget cuts would mean elimination of several programs and services. And in order to avoid it, clerks of courts were requested to submit a list of fees that might be increased.

The fee increase options were integrated into the bill and signed into law by Governor Charlie Crist last month.

Chief judge G. Keith Cary of the 20th Judicial Circuit said that fee increases will generate revenues which will go into a centralized fund that will be shared by the state’s court systems. He added that increasing filing fees is the easiest way to raise funds and that major banking institutions can afford the fee increases.

Meanwhile, Crist believes that the fee increases could give financial institutions and banks something to consider before they decide to file repo properties claim or not. Another worthwhile use of the fee increase is to force potential plaintiffs to consider whether filing a lawsuit is worth its cost.

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Condos in the 420-unit CityPlace South Tower in the central area of West Palm Beach, Florida could soon appear in foreclosed home search after the Bank of Nova Scotia foreclosed on the developer of the condo complex, CityPlace South Tower LLC.

According to the firm Related Group, parent company of developer CityPlace, the foreclosure filing was a friendly foreclosure action to protect condo buyers and prospective unit buyers.

Bank of Nova Scotia and its partners lent $134.7 million in 2006 for the construction of the condo complex. The total loan should have been repaid last month.

The fate of the CityPlace condo complex illustrates the difficult situation of condo and other residential developers that overbuilt during the housing boom. The low prices of single-family properties in foreclosed home search lists shifted buyers’ attention away from the condo market.

Despite the prospect of CityPlace condo units being found through foreclosed home search, the condo units are complete and well-maintained, according to Barbara Salk, senior vice president of The Related Group. She said that The Bank of Nova Scotia and The Related Group have agreed to work together to protect the interests of condo buyers.

A consortium of banks, led by Bank of Scotia’s subsidiary Scotia Capital, will acquire the titles of all unsold condo units.

However, The Related Group remains overall manager of the condo complex, in-charge of further development and maintenance, including the sale and leasing of condo units.

Real estate analysts in Florida said the agreement between the CityPlace developer and the lenders is exemplary because it prevented courtroom fights that often lead to the deterioration of properties in foreclosure.

A real estate adviser involved in the sale of the condo project said the condo units will be sold individually and will not be sold through bulk sales. He said the developers would have more control over the overall outcome of the project if the units are sold individually.

Aside from CityPlace, other condo projects may appear in foreclosed home search soon if the economy does not improve soon. These include Two City Plaza of Kolter Homes, City Palms of H&H Development and Icon Brickell of The Related Group.

All in all, condo units in CityPlace South Tower may appear in foreclosed home search lists, but buyers are assured that they are well-maintained because of the exemplary cooperation between the developer and the lenders.

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City workers of District Heights in Maryland are being kept busy by the growing number of homes on bank foreclosure listings. The city has taken over the task of ensuring that foreclosed homes will not become blights to neighborhoods.

According to Brian Edwards, public works supervisor at District Heights, as many as six employees and about two hours are needed to deal with waist-high grass on one home on bank foreclosure listings.

However, city employees have no choice but to make time to ensure that these foreclosed properties will not become menace to the community. The maintenance of foreclosure properties in the city was taken over by code enforcement departments and public works in the central area municipality.

But the city is having difficulty getting in touch with banks or individuals who own the homes on bank foreclosure listings or maintain regular services.

According to John Lamarre, city code inspector, his office issued citations of dead tree limbs on streets, trash and high grass on 33 foreclosed homes since May. The city has an estimated 135 townhouses and 1,597 single-family properties.

Edwards said the city’s public works has trimmed and cut almost 21 lawns since last month. On the other hand, Lamarre said that grasses on properties that public works had first attended to are now taller or waist-high and needed attention again.

Edwards explained that public works designates one day a week for the maintenance of abandoned, vacant and foreclosed homes. He claimed that the extra attention provided on foreclosure properties are using up the time that usually should be spent on mowing common area lawns in the city, collecting litter and street cleaning.

He added that members of code enforcements tried to get in touch with property owners and gave them a 72-hour ultimatum to get their properties in shape before the city takes over. Bank-owned properties in the city are estimated to be around 27.

Lamarre pointed out that some banks are receptive towards the campaign and requested the city to send them the bill for the total costs of maintenance. However, some banks also opted to ignore the city’s notification.

Meanwhile, to help ease the burden of maintaining homes on bank foreclosure listings, the District Heights Commissioners approved the hiring of four young people to work part-time to maintain the abandoned and foreclosed homes.

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A report has been released showing that a growing number of homeless people were forced to leave their homes because of the repo home crisis.

Three out of nine parcels of the Dragon City Casino development in Las Vegas, Nevada are scheduled for bank REO properties sale on June 26. The foreclosure auction will be conducted by the Community Bank of Nevada.

Free counseling will be available for distressed homeowners who are facing the prospect of losing their properties to foreclosures and who are struggling to make their monthly mortgage payments at a repossession houses rescue fair in Panorama City, California on June 27.

The loan refinancing portion of the Obama administration’s repo property prevention program is running slowly, according to officials of the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Sales of pre-owned homes and foreclose homes for sale in the U.S. increased in May by 2.4 percent, according to an analysis of national real estate data.

A family of four has recently bought a craftsman house in Pasadena for $330,000, a price unthinkable for such as beautiful house two years ago when large numbers of foreclosure homes were unheard of.
The family has been planning to move to less-expensive San Fernando Valley communities so they can buy their first home, but the [...]

The city of Detroit in Michigan has found another way to address the growing REO property listing in the area. This time, the help comes from artists who heard about the city’s very low home prices.