HOMES LOST BUT DEBT STILL DUE

SHORT SALES AND FORECLOSURE WON’T PROTECT YOU AGAINST AGAINST DEBT COLLECTION OF SECOND MORTGAGES AND LINES OF CREDIT OBTAINED AFTER THE INITIAL PURCHASE OF YOUR PRIMARY HOME.

FLORIDA IS A RECOURSE STATE AND LOANS MADE AFTER THE INITIAL PURCHASE ARE COLLECTABLE IN FLORIDA.

Debt collectors are starting to hound people who lost their homes to foreclosures or short sales over their second mortgages. Millions of borrowers do have recourse loans that they took out after purchase of the primary residence which means lenders have a legal right to pursue them for unpaid balances. If at the time you purchased your home there was a first and second loan the banks should not come after you. For instants if you had a 80/20 or 90/10 where there is no down payment but there are two mortgages, one for 80% the other for 20%. BUT if after you bought your home you took out a line of credit or second mortgage a lender has the right to come after you for payment even after a short sale or foreclosure.

Borrowers don’t have a defense, they signed a promissory note, borrowed and spent the money. Lenders or collection companies will usually settle the debt for less then owed. This should be handled during the foreclosure or short sale period. If the debts are large and unmanageable the borrower should consider bankruptcy. It is better to address all the issues straight on and reduce the time that your credit will be impacted.

OPEN HOUSE SUNDAY 15824 FAIRCHILD DRIVE

CLICK ON THE VIRTUAL TOUR UNDER LINKS. WE WILL BE OPEN SUNDAY 1-4 PM ON JUNE 6, 2010. CALL 813-956-6487 FOR MORE INFORMATION OR DIRECTIONS.  Liz DeAmbrose  homenet@gte.net

NEW TAMPA SALES FOR MAY 2010

SALES were done a little from April numbers, but April was a very good month due to the first time buyer credit of $8,000.00.

MAY SALES NUMBERS

TAMPA PALMS:  8 sales, 2 were new from Standard Pacific, 3 were preforeclosure short sales and 3 normal regular sellers.

HUNTERS GREEN: 3 sales, 2 bank owned, 1 regular seller.

ARBOR GREENE: 9 sales, 1 new from Lennar, 1 bank owned, 1 corporate owned, 2 preforeclosure short sales and 4 regular sellers. Arbor Greene has been the best selling subdivision in New Tampa this year.

CORY LAKE ISLES:  6 sales, 3 preforeclosure short sales, 3 regular sellers. Cory Lake also had it’s highest dollar per square foot sale this year at $181.00 per square foot on 17953 Cachet Isle.

HERITAGE ISLES:  8 sales, 1 bank owned, 4 regular and 3 preforeclosure short sales.

CROSS CREEK AND EASTON PARK: 6 sales, 4 new in Easton Park, one bank owned in Cross Creek and regular seller in Cross Creek. The average new home in Easton Park is running about $75.00 per sq. ft. and with a conservation lot and more upgrades about $95.00 per sq. ft.

PEBBLE CREEK:  one sale, Pebble Creek has been the hardest hit by new construction in Live Oaks and Easton Park.

RICHMOND PLACE:  4 sales, and regular sellers. There haven’t been many sales in Richmond at all this year, so this is the best month for the subdivision.

WEST MEADOWS: 1 sale, regular seller.

GRAND HAMPTONS: 9 sales, 2 new homes, from Minto and Standard Pacific, 1 bank owned, 3 regular and 3 preforeclosure short sales.

LIVE OAKS: 3 sales, all bank owned.

MEADOW POINTE:  18 SALES, always the leader,  1 bank owned, 2 preforeclosure, 15 regular and one new. Nesselwood is the only village now where new homes are built.

SEVEN OAKS:  4 sales all preforeclosure short sales.

COUNRY WALK: The best month for Country Walk  this year. 8 sales, 4 new, 3 preforeclosure and 1 regular.

May sales were good, June closing should also be good. But all bets are off after that if unemployment numbers don’t start to go down.

If you have questions email me at HOMENET@GTE.NET

Beware of Your Lender

Lenders will be filing a tidal wave of lawsuits against homeowners in the next few years as a way to recoup losses when homes sales or foreclosures auctions don’t result in enough money to pay the mortgages in full. It will be a dramatic problem because  borrowers will not know it’s coming. In Florida, banks have five years from the date of the sale to file a deficiency judgment and up to 20 years to collect. Lenders can garnish wages or make claims on borrowers assets.

Before the mortgage melt down of the last few years lenders rarely brought a homeowner to court, it wasn’t worth it. Homeowners only defaulted if they really had to, that has changed. Many who have defaulted have assets that the bank can go after.  Banks will go after angry homeowners who have ruined their own property and left. Those who are underwater or upside down on their mortgage but can still pay the payments and second lien holders. If you are upside down and have tried modifying your loan only to be told no by the bank, think twice about walking away. You are the type of borrower they will be coming after.

Banks have begun selling off their loan to third party companies. Major banks are setting up separate companies to go after loans they think they can collect on and selling the balance to other companies to collect on.  I had a client call me this week and she was one of the first short sales I did in Meadow Pte. They are coming after her for her second loan 18 months after the short sale closed. She had lost her job, so don’t think they won’t come after you.