Florida Mortgage Foreclosures Continue to Increase

Foreclosures in Florida increased on a year-over-year basis last month for the seventh time in eight months, according to a recent Miami Herald article titled “Foreclosure rate falls nationally, but Florida still trending up.”

Florida now has the second highest foreclosure rate in the country (1 for every 328 housing units), behind only Illinois. New Florida foreclosure filings increased 26% annually in August.

The chart below shows Florida foreclosure activity by county for August, including Palm Beach, Broward, and Miami-Dade counties.

If you and your lender agree that you can not keep your home, there may still be options to avoid foreclosure, according to the Florida Attorney General:

• Short Payoff: If you can sell your house but the sale proceeds are less than the total amount you owe on your mortgage, your mortgage company may agree to a short payoff and write off the portion of your mortgage that exceeds the net proceeds from the sale.
• Deed-in-lieu of foreclosure: A deed-in-lieu of foreclosure is a cancellation of your mortgage if you voluntarily transfer title of your property to your mortgage company. Usually you must try to sell your home for its fair market value for at least 90 days before a mortgage company will consider this option. A deed-in-lieu of foreclosure may not be an option if there are other liens on the property, such as second mortgages, judgments from creditors, or tax liens.
• Assumption: An assumption permits a qualified buyer to take over your mortgage debt and make the mortgage payments, even if the mortgage is non-assumable. As a result, you may be able to sell your property and avoid foreclosure.
• Refinancing: While refinancing is not necessarily a good option when facing foreclosure and can sometimes even be a predatory practice, there are instances where it may help. Talk to your lender to see if refinancing is an option for you.

Fort Lauderdale Foreclosure Defense Attorney

Choosing the best approach to protecting yourself and your family from a mortgage foreclosure involves many legal considerations. Contact Fort Lauderdale mortgage foreclosure attorney Marcy Resnik to discuss how you can defend your legal rights in a foreclosure. You can contact Ms. Resnik online or call her at 954-321-0176.