Support emerges for Florida housing trust funds

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Jan. 21, 2010 – Florida legislators have given the state’s affordable housing trust funds short shrift in recent years, but a key Senate lawmaker says he’ll support an effort to target money for affordable housing during the upcoming session if it reduces the glut of existing housing stock and puts builders back to work.

Senate Appropriations Committee chairman. J.D. Alexander, R-Lake Wales, told the News Service of Florida he would support efforts to lift the cap on the Sadowski Trust Fund, which has seen its resources diverted in recent years to fill other budget gaps. By using affordable trust fund money for downpayment assistance and upgrades to existing housing – instead of building new buildings – it could get people into homes that are sitting unsold.

During the state’s housing boom, the Sadowski Fund ballooned to more than $600 million as home sales surged. With so much coming into the fund, lawmakers in 2006 imposed a cap on how much of the money in the account could be spent. By limiting spending from the fund to $243 million, it provided lawmakers with a source of money for other areas of the budget. The money that goes into the fund comes from real estate transfer taxes.

Last year, House lawmakers included in a committee bill a provision to abolish the $243 million cap. Senate budget leaders, however, including Alexander, balked because the money was needed elsewhere as the Legislature scrambled to balance the budget.

Last fiscal year, lawmakers took nearly $440 million from trust funds and spent it elsewhere. The remaining $30 million that went into the account was earmarked for the federal first-time homebuyer program. Trust fund coffers likely won’t approach the cap this year even if further raids are avoided.

This time around, Alexander said he’d back the effort to remove the cap, which went into effect in 2007, because it will help the Florida construction industry. “The homebuilding industry needs to have that existing product moved so they can get their people back to work,” Alexander said.

About 400,000 existing housing units are on the market. Builders say the focus on existing housing units – at this time – makes sense.

“Our members recognize that this over-supply must be brought down in order to return to a healthy market,” said David Hart, vice president of legislative affairs for the Florida Home Builders Association. “So, yes, we support using Sadowski funds for downpayment assistance this year rather than on new construction. The sooner the inventory is reduced, the sooner members of the construction industry can get back to work.”

About $174 million in trust fund revenue from doc stamp taxes would be available in the coming year if money were not diverted to other purposes. Jaimie Ross, director of affordable housing for 1,000 Friends of Florida, estimates that using it would create 13,000 jobs and result in a $1.3 billion boost as money circulated throughout the economy.

Advocates hope Gov. Charlie Crist includes full affordable housing funding when he releases his budget request in the next couple weeks. Though no guarantee, Ross said Crist’s support is critical as lawmakers enter what is again expected to be a tight budget year and they try to fill a $3 billion gap in critical services.

“If we don’t have an appropriation of money, we are not going to be able to move housing stock,” Ross said. “As for what the governor will propose or what the Legislature will appropriate, I just don’t know at this point.”

House Democrats worry that housing money may be diverted to other state priorities, as the Legislature strives to fill a budget hole nearing $3 billion.

“My fear is that they’re going to raid trust funds and nickel and dime (the budget) with fees,” said Rep. Ron Saunders, D-Key West, the incoming House Democratic Leader and the sponsor of legislation (HB 95) to lift the cap on spending of the affordable housing money.

Source: News Service of Florida, Michael Peltier

Law firm gorges on home defaults

TAMPA, Fla. – Jan. 7, 2010 – If there’s one industry that’s not feeling the economy’s sting these days, it’s the business of filing foreclosure lawsuits.

Recently, mortgage-servicing companies have been filing about 2,000 initial foreclosure documents every month in Hillsborough County Circuit Court. To handle the overwhelming caseload, armies of lawyers, paralegals and clerks at big foreclosure law firms have streamlined the art of separating homeowners from their homes.

Few are as large or as efficient as Tampa-based Florida Default Law Group, which processes at least 300 new foreclosure suits a month in Hillsborough County, court documents show.

By forging relationships with mortgage companies and focusing on volume, Florida Default Law Group offers to foreclose on a home at the bare-bones price of $1,200, about half the typical cost.

In the streamlining, distressed homeowners such as 75-year-old Janice Winemiller of Sarasota sometimes get hurt. Florida Default Law Group charged her more than $4,000 for delivery of legal documents, according to her nonprofit legal aid lawyer. The firm couldn’t substantiate the fees.

Dubbed foreclosure mills by some in the industry, these companies have turned the job into a factory-like process. Speed is the key to their success.

“The only way their business model works is if they don’t lay eyes on the lawsuit,” said Jim Kowalski, a Jacksonville lawyer who has litigated against Florida Default Law Group.

Four firms, 1,049 filings

Few areas of the legal field are so dominated by a handful of players as foreclosure law. Florida Default Law Group is one of four foreclosure mills operating in Florida that appear to be winning the lion’s share of business from lenders or their representatives. Along with Florida Default, other big firms include the law offices of David J. Stern in Plantation, the law offices of Marshall C. Watson in Fort Lauderdale and Shapiro & Fishman in Boca Raton.

The Tribune looked at 1,994 initial foreclosure documents filed in October to see which firms were handling the most foreclosures...

Read more under http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/article.cfm?id=229402

New Smyrna Beach: Site plan for big-box retailer approved

By Dale Smith - dsmith@hometownnewsol.com

NEW SMYRNA BEACH - If they build it, you will come.

At least that's what developer Regency Centers of Jacksonville hopes will happen now that the Planning and Zoning Board approved a site plan for a big-box store.

The 155,000-square foot retail structure is phase one of a larger project that will sit on approximately 47 acres at the intersection of I-95 and State Road 44 west of the city.

Smaller anchor stores and retail shops are planned in other phases.

Planning and Zoning board members voted 5-1 in favor of the site plan. Marie Bushey was the lone dissenter.

Widespread speculation is that a Super Wal-Mart will be the new tenant, but Regency officials will not confirm that.

City planner Gail Hendrickson said staff had a concern about what stores would be going into the new development and how that would impact similar stores that already exists in New Smyrna Beach.

http://www.myhometownnews.net/index.php?id=65478

FHA brings some relief for some condos

The resort-style pool, spa and health club along with luxurious 10-foot floor-to-ceiling windows are no longer the key selling points for 101 Eola in Thornton Park. Today the best thing going for the 146-unit condominium tower is that it's the only newly constructed building in downtown Orlando that is FHA approved, a special government sanction that allows buyers to put as little as 3.5 percent down.
Read more at http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/orl-bizorl-beth-kassab-condo-061909061909jun19,0,7031870.column

Property Insurance

Gov.. Charlie Crist said Tuesday he'll sign a bill (HB 1495) that boosts property insurance on more than 1 million customers of the state-backed Citizens Property Insurance Corp. Without the legislation, which calls for 10 percent increases spread over several years, supporters said Citizens customers would have been looking at rate increases between 40 percent and 55 percent on Jan. 1.Read the full story:http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/n2-050709.cfm

Foreclosures

The number of failing mortgages in Florida continued to rise in the second quarter, according to the latest Mortgage Bankers Association survey. In Florida, the percentage of home loans in foreclosure was higher than in any other state and almost double the national average. A small consolation: Subprime foreclosures may have hit their peak in Florida, the report says.

Read the full story at http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/n3-090808.cfm

St. Joe sees bottom of housing market

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – May 7, 2008 – Florida’s biggest landowner, the St. Joe Co., believes the housing market may have reached the bottom, pointing to stabilization in the residential inventory.St. Joe Co. CEO Peter Rummell says buyers must be “retrained” to recognize the importance of making home purchases now. He notes, “We have trained people to expect that prices are going to be lower tomorrow than today if they just wait. So now people are going to have to learn that they’ve gotten to that point.”Though the company posted a $32 million profit for the first quarter, only $9.8 million can be attributed to its residential operations. Much of the firm’s profits can be tied to the sale of “nonstrategic” land parcels in the Florida Panhandle, including 57,435 acres it recently sold to a group of buyers including sportsmen, investors and conservationists for $91 million.Source: St. Petersburg Times (05/06/08) Thorner, James

Property tax and economic stimulus plans boost consumer confidence

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Feb. 26, 2008 – Passage of the national economic stimulus package and state property tax amendment helped boost Florida’s consumer confidence by four points to 74 in February after last month’s decline to its lowest level in 16 years, a new University of Florida study reports.Four of the five components that make up the index rose this month. The largest increase was in perceptions of national economic conditions over the next year, which jumped 11 points to 66, followed by expectations of national economic conditions over the next five years, which rose eight points to 82. Two components edged up two points: perceptions of personal finances now compared with a year ago to 67, and expectations of personal finances a year from now to 84. The only component to fall was perceptions of whether it is a good time to buy big-ticket items, which dropped three points to 71, its lowest point since December 1991.

Read on the full story: http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/n4-022608.cfm

Amendment one - important information for Florida homeowners

Amendment one passed so Florida homeowners have new homestead exemption rule that will change their property taxes and make it possible to take existing homestead exemption from their existing residence to a new home. Here are more detail that you need to know:

http://dor.myflorida.com/dor/property/sb4d.html