Home Foreclosures in Florida

Like all other states in the US, you will find more than thousand numbers of home foreclosures in Florida. This sunshine state is also a much sought after place after retirement and serves as a great tourist spot as well. Mainly after the recession and credit crunch of 2007, the incidence of foreclosures in Florida along with the other parts of the United States has increased significantly. Following the US sub prime mortgage crisis, the “foreclosed homes for sale”, Florida has become more. Though owning a place of dwelling is the basic and most common dream of a person, due to certain unavoidable conditions, a person falls behind on payments and ultimately his house leads to foreclosure.

Foreclosure- What It Means

If you are facing hardship in making payments toward your mortgage each month, and already have missed one or two payments, this means you have landed yourself in trouble and your lender can take some legal action. Foreclosure is that legal way using which your lender may take repossession of your house. If the court issues an order of foreclosure, you need to move out of your house. If the outstanding amount you owe to the lender is more than your home equity, a deficiency judgment could also be pursued. However, in that case, along with your house, you will also owe an extra amount to the HUD.

A person normally faces difficulty in making the monthly mortgage payments, due to the causes as follows:

* Death of a family member’s
* Medical emergency
* Sudden expenses related to emergency home renovation, installation of utilities, and so on.
* Inability to adapt to new ARM (adjustable rate mortgage)
* Sudden joblessness
* Divorce/alimony/child support
If you anticipate that you are on the verge of foreclosure, then instead of worrying yourself to death you should immediately get legal advice from an experienced lawyer, who has long years of experience dealing with foreclosures in Florida.

Some ways of foreclosure defense as suggested by the lawyers may be-

* Repayment plan: You can also opt for a repayment plan. However, in that case you will have to pay part of the arrearage. The outstanding amount has to be paid together with the regular payments. You have to pay this amount generally in a couple of month’s time.

* Modification of the current mortgage: In most cases when the borrower faces difficulty in making monthly payments, the lender agrees to reform certain terms and conditions of the existing mortgage. Some favorable changes are brought about that mainly include reducing the rate of interest, extending the term of the loan, decreasing payments related to the principal amount, and so on. However, these changes are provisional in nature.

* Short sale: You can also opt for a short sale; in that case, your property will be sold to a third party. If your creditor agrees as per negotiation, the payment received in this short sale, will be taken as full settlement amount paid by you.

* Short refinance: As a borrower, instead of opting for foreclosure, you may also get the home refinanced.

* Repurchase following a foreclosure: If you are missing payments and opting for foreclosure due to some temporary financial problems, you will again get the chance to buy back your property after an auction.

Foreclosure Timeline

Day 1: You miss your first due mortgage payment.
Days 16-30: Late charge is assessed on payment and the mortgage servicer attempts to make contact through phone calls or mails, for finding out the reason of non-payment.
Days 45-60: The servicer sends you “breach” or “demand” letter stating that you have violated the terms and conditions of the mortgage. You are given 30 days to pay the delinquent amount and resolve the situation.
Days 90-105: The servicer refers the loan to foreclosure department and hires a local attorney or other legal firm to initiate foreclosure proceedings. The servicer’s representative may also record a formal “foreclosure notice” at the Florida newspapers, court house, in details and attend hearings on the case and make the necessary court filings.
Days 150-415: Your house is sold at foreclosure auction or sale. This time range of sale varies from one state to other.
Days 150-415+: After the sale, the Florida state government grants you a "redemption period", in which you can repurchase the foreclosed property. It may also happen that you are immediately forced to leave your house.
Avoiding Foreclosure

A home is the most valuable asset and a person invests most part of his savings toward it. So, if you do not want your property to be listed under “homes for sale, Florida”, you should know the ways how to avoid this. In order to stay away from foreclosure, you need to do the following things:

Contact your lenders: Instead of waiting for your lender to file a notice of default, you should contact them beforehand, as soon as you face any difficulty in making payments toward your mortgage. You should let him know about any financial change in your life like reduction in monthly income, job loss, unexpected illness or death, divorce, and so on.

Contact a counseling agency: You should immediately contact a HUD approved housing counseling agent. He may offer you credit/financial counseling free of cost.

Think of some alternatives: You can also think of other options, in order to stop foreclosure, which are as follows:

Special forbearance Mortgage modification Deed-in-lieu of foreclosure Pre-foreclosure sale Partial claim

If you are thinking of opting for bankruptcy, in order to avoid foreclosure, you should know that as per the new bankruptcy law of 2005, you need to attend a credit counseling session for a period of 180 days, prior to filing for bankruptcy. However, if your foreclosure date falls within this 180-day period, them foreclosure may not be avoided. If you are in no position to make payment, bankruptcy can only defer the foreclosure procedure, it definitely cannot stop it. When filing for bankruptcy, you can have the advantage of automatic stay, which will delay the foreclosure process. In any case, bankruptcy will stay on your credit report for 7-10 years, and foreclosure will also have the same effect on your credit history.