Property Tax Challenges Just Got Easier
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – June 4, 2009
Home and business owners who think their local tax bill is too high caught a break today when Gov. Charlie Crist signed a bill that makes it easier to challenge how much a property is worth. Flanked by business and real estate leaders, Crist put his name to HB 521. The bill lowers the burden of proof for owners who dispute property tax assessments to a preponderance of the evidence, a lower standard than the clear and convincing threshold they now must meet to overturn a property appraiser’s estimate. Local governments had successfully scuttled earlier efforts to lower the standard. In the just-signed version, property appraisers still enjoy the presumption that their estimates are correct, but the legislative analysts say the bill will cost local governments $157 million during the current fiscal year, increasing to $693 million a year by 2013.
Foreclosed Homes Could Become Hurricane Shelters
MIAMI (AP) – June 4, 2009
Trying to make the best of a bad situation, federal officials might use foreclosed homes as temporary housing for hurricane evacuees in Florida as soon as this summer. The proposal would keep people close to their homes and communities instead of scattering them around the country, which happened when Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans nearly four years ago. Thousands never returned.But the idea is still in its infancy and many questions remain unanswered, including whether the banks that own the foreclosed homes would agree to such a plan. “It makes all the sense in the world,” said Jack McCabe, a South Florida real estate analyst, who has watched tens of thousands of homes go into foreclosure. “We have a lot of vacant units available.”FEMA told The Associated Press that it might consider using foreclosed homes if hotels, shelters and other housing options are full and only for a catastrophic situation, such as Hurricane Katrina. The idea was discussed at a hurricane drill this week in Florida.Jeff Bryant, FEMA’s federal coordinating officer for Florida, said the agency will work with other federal agencies such as Housing and Urban Development and state emergency planners to see if it could be a solution.If the proposal works in Florida, it could serve as a model nationally. In April, there were 278,287 homes in some stage of foreclosure in Florida, according to RealtyTrac. The idea isn’t wholly new. About 100 families were moved into foreclosed homes after Katrina, FEMA said. “When you have a diaspora that leaves the state, it’s very hard to get those guys back. You really want to prevent them from leaving the state,” Bryant said. “We want to keep them in their same local community.”
Foreclosures fall 6 percent in May from April
WASHINGTON – June 11, 2009
The number of U.S. households on the verge of losing their homes dipped in May from April, and the annual increase was the smallest in three years. But as layoffs, rather than risky mortgages, become the main reason that borrowers default on their home loans, foreclosures likely will remain elevated this year and into 2010. Many economists expect unemployment, now at 9.4 percent nationwide, to rise as high as 10 percent, and some project it will exceed the post-World War II record of 10.8 percent.Foreclosure filings fell 6 percent in May from April, according to RealtyTrac Inc. More than 321,000 households received at least one foreclosure-related notice last month – 18 percent more than a year earlier – but the smallest annual gain since June 2006. Despite the drop from April, it was the third-highest monthly rate since Irvine, Calif.-based RealtyTrac began its report in January 2005, and the third straight month with more than 300,000 households receiving a foreclosure filing. One in every 398 U.S. homes received a foreclosure filing last month, according to the foreclosure listing firm’s report.The mortgage industry has resumed cracking down on delinquent borrowers after foreclosures were temporarily halted by mortgage finance companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and other lenders. “It would not be a huge surprise to see the numbers level off a little bit at this point,” said Rick Sharga, RealtyTrac’s senior vice president for marketing.Banks repossessed about 65,000 homes in May, up from 64,000 in April, due to big increases in several states including Michigan, Arizona and Nevada.
The Obama administration announced a plan in March to provide $50 billion from the financial industry rescue fund as an incentive for the mortgage industry to modify loans at lower monthly payments. But the effectiveness of the relief plan remains unclear, with questions lingering about how much the lending industry will cooperate. Many housing counselors say it hasn’t made much of a difference so far. In Florida, one in every 148 households received a foreclosure filing. Rounding out the top 10 were Arizona, Utah, Michigan, Georgia, Colorado, Idaho and Ohio.
Chinese Drywall
After hurricanes, foreclosures and dizzying price declines, contaminated drywall from China is the latest hardship facing homeowners. Not all Chinese drywall is bad, but as many as 36,000 homes in Florida and 100,000 nationwide may contain defective wallboard, which can give off a sulfurous “rotten egg” odor, tarnish metals and ruin appliances and electronics by corroding pipes and wires.Complaints in Broward and Palm Beach counties generally have come from Parkland, Pompano Beach, Davie and communities west of Delray Beach and Boynton Beach. But local officials fear the problem is more widespread. Scores of bank-owned houses and condominiums may have the defective drywall and the lenders don’t know it because no one lives in the homes.Homeowners insist the drywall is making them sick, causing nosebleeds, headaches, sore throats and respiratory issues. State and federal agencies have yet to determine whether the wallboard poses a health threat. The Florida Department of Health is waiting for results after testing the air quality of a house in Parkland last week.Most complaints involve homes built from 2002 to 2006 during the housing boom that caused a shortage of materials. Builders then began using imports. Homes rebuilt after the busy 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons also are at risk for the defective drywall.
