Archives

U.S. Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), members of the Senate Special Committee on Aging, today urged U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Mick Mulvaney to protect seniors from potential eviction under reverse mortgage rules. The senators urged the Administration to keep existing safeguards in place to protect seniors from losing their homes and requested verification of the Administration’s plan to do so

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) today asked the federal government to look into Florida’s handling of the $1 billion Hardest Hit mortgage assistance program, and provide guidance as needed. Nelson made the request in a letter sent today to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew. His request comes on the heels of a recent report by the Tampa Bay Times finding that tens of thousands of Florida homeowners seeking assistance through the program are still waiting for help.

Hunt Mortgage Group, a leader in financing commercial real estate throughout the United States, announced today that it has provided a $39.4 million Freddie Mac loan to refinance a multifamily property located in Tampa, Florida

The owner of a Florida mortgage company was sentenced today to serve 135 months in prison for orchestrating a $64 million mortgage fraud scheme. Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer of the Southern District of Florida and Special Agent in Charge Nadine Gurley of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Inspector General (HUD-OIG) Atlanta Region made the announcement

Miami-Dade County residential sales rose nearly three percent year-over-year in August while median sales prices for single-family and condominium properties continued their upward trend, according to a new report by the 38,000-member MIAMI Association of REALTORS® (MIAMI) and Multiple Listing Service (MLS) system.

Florida’s housing market continued its positive track in August with more closed sales, higher median prices and a tightening inventory, according to the latest housing data released by Florida Realtors®. Closed sales of existing single-family homes statewide totaled 23,605 last month, up 8.6 percent over August 2014.

A Miami-area real estate developer and owner of a mortgage company, his business partner and a senior mortgage underwriter each pleaded guilty to a mortgage fraud scheme involving federally insured mortgages that caused losses of $64 million to the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). Including these defendants, 25 individuals have pleaded guilty to offenses related to this scheme to date.

Hunt Mortgage Group, a commercial real estate lender, announced today that it has provided four Freddie Mac small loans that total $6.5 million to refinance four separate multifamily properties located in Tampa, Florida.

Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer of the Southern District of Florida, Special Agent in Charge Nadine Gurley of the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Inspector General (HUD-OIG) and Special Agent in Charge Timothy A. Mowery of the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s Office of Inspector General (FHFA-OIG) made the announcement.

CBRE Capital Markets arranged the sale of Village Green, a 164-unit, 140,000-square-foot apartment community in the Altamonte Springs area of Orlando. Located at 112 Essex Avenue, the asset was acquired from Harbor Group International, LLC by Insula Companies for $12.6 million. CBRE’s Shelton Granade, Luke Wickham, and Justin Basquill provided exclusive representation to the seller in the transaction.

Hunt Mortgage Group, a commercial real estate lender, announced today that that it has opened an office in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, located at 110 SE 6th Street on the 17th Floor.

Attorney General Pam Bondi and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau were granted a final judgment against the Hoffman Law Group and corporate affiliates accused of using deceptive marketing practices and scamming distressed homeowners into paying illegal advance fees. Working together, five companies conned consumers into paying millions of dollars in illegal upfront fees to join frivolous lawsuits that the companies falsely claimed would pressure banks to modify their loans or provide foreclosure relief.

Industry Best Practices Will Help NYDFS Work with Local Officials to Curb Blight, Reduce Taxpayer Costs, and Shore up Property Values. Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Citigroup, and Other Companies Representing Nearly 70 Percent of the NY Market to Adopt Zombie Property Best Practices

United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III announces the return of an indictment charging David W. Griffin (44, Lutz) with one count of mail fraud, nine counts of bankruptcy fraud, two counts of making a false statement under oath during a bankruptcy proceeding, and one count of aggravated identity theft. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in federal prison for the mail fraud charge, and up to five years on each of the bankruptcy fraud and false statement charges.

On Dec. 3, 2014, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 5771, the Tax Increase Prevention Act of 2014, by a strong bipartisan vote of 378-46. The Senate has not yet acted on the tax extenders, but is expected to do so the week of Dec. 8. Please visit the Mortgage Debt Cancellation Relief page on realtor.org for any developments in the coming week

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.- August 11, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi and Connecticut Attorney General George Jepson sued Berger Law Group, Resolution Law Group, and related entities and individuals over allegations that they collected at least $4.7 million in illegal upfront fees from distressed homeowners. Under their authority to enforce the federal Mortgage Assistance Relief Services Rule and Florida and Connecticut laws prohibiting deceptive and unfair trade practices, Attorney General Bondi and Attorney General Jepson filed a complaint alleging that four individuals and four businesses formulated and participated in a mortgage rescue scam based in Florida that targeted consumers across the country by making false promises of relief from their mortgages and money damages through mass-joinder litigation

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - June 18, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attorney General Pam Bondi today announced a $550 million joint state-federal settlement with mortgage lender and servicer SunTrust Mortgage Inc. to address mortgage origination, servicing, and foreclosure abuses.

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - May 21, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- National Mortgage Settlement Monitor Joseph A. Smith, Jr. is charged with monitoring the servicers’ compliance with borrower relief requirements and servicing standard reforms under the National Mortgage Settlement. In a court filing earlier this month, he reported that nearly 92,000 distressed Florida borrowers have received $9.12 billion in credited relief as the result of a guarantee that Florida separately negotiated from the National Mortgage Settlement with three of the settling banks. Florida was one of only three states to negotiate such a guarantee with the three largest settling servicers

WASHINGTON, D.C. - April 1, 2014 - (RealEstateRama) -- Seven individuals have been indicted in the Southern District of Florida for their alleged participation in a mortgage fraud scheme in the Miami area.