Jul 7, 2008 10:27 pm US/Eastern
New Foreclosure Laws Too Late For Many Homeowners
MIAMI (CBS4) ―
The foreclosure crisis is hitting South Florida hard. In Broward County alone, the number of homes going into the first phase of foreclosure hit 14,000 in 2007, and 2008 is on track to double that number, as adjustable rate mortgages ratchet upward. As Suzanne Weiss, associate director of the non-profit Neighborhood Housing Services, notes, "there's another interest rate reset anticipated next year."
Weiss works with an agency that helps struggling homeowners in their attempts to prevent foreclosure. She's watched the crisis develop and says the problem can be summarized in one sentence: "Nobody was responsible for a good or a bad loan."
To try to make someone responsible, the Florida legislature passed two laws this spring. They go into effect on October 1, 2008. One law imposes tougher penalties for mortgage fraud and addresses it specifically. The second law deals with a new industry, the so-called mortgage relief companies, by defining just what they are and what fees they can charge their clients.
But the new laws may come too late for thousands who face losing their homes now, and critics of the laws fear that mortgage fraud will continue, despite state laws. On the frontlines of the crisis, people like Weiss see at least signs of hope. She says she's not sure if the state has done enough, "but it's a first step, and that's definitely positive."
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