Lysis said:
Yay Florida! I think we are foreclosure capital of the country right now.
Yay! I can't talk like a professional instead of a pill head today!
It is the foreclosure capital and heres why. Back in the 90's many banks formed 'sub-prime' mortgage companies with idea of putting lower income people in their own himes. Unfortunately, in Florida these weren't as strictly regulated as in other states.
What ensued were lots of mortgage brokers looking to make a fast buck off underpaid and uneducated renters. They went door to door in housing complexes with real estate brokers telling people they could own their own homes for what they paid in rent. Not EXACTLY true.
What they could, however get was a mortgage that was usually 'interest only' for the first few years. After the intial loan term was up (2-4 years) they had to pay back principle which resulted in much higher payments. IE, they lost control of their payments and foreclosures shot up.
Worse than that is the fact that many of these foreclosed homes were then resold in the same situation resulting in a cycle of foreclosures.
I tell you this as a former mortgage broker who was licensed in Florida. They had the easiest rules to comply to through Banking and Finance dept.
So thats why.
(No,, I never did sub-prime, but had people in my office who did.)