Tampa Bankruptcy Law Blog

During the mortgage crisis, thousands of people were issued home foreclosure notices in Florida. However, due to unclear foreclosure guidelines for lenders, many of these foreclosures were handled improperly. Active military service members were among the group of people who fell victim to these illegal foreclosures.

The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act protects any deployed soldier from having their home foreclosed on. Unfortunately, illegal foreclosures are still happening across the country. Court documents report that as many as 900 active duty service members were illegally foreclosed upon during the mortgage crisis and thousands more were overcharged by lenders. These foreclosures may create unfair problems in the soldier’s military and civilian life, according to the director of a state Veterans Affairs Agency. 

It is no secret that this country has seen a flood of home foreclosures in the last 5 years. When the housing market crashed in 2008, millions of Americans found themselves living in homes that had significantly dropped in value. The depression that followed made it very difficult for hardworking families to make their monthly mortgage payments. As a result, foreclosure rates in Florida increased sharply. Despite the fact that the economy and the housing market have slowly started to rebound, there are still many states where foreclosure rates are increasing.

The reason for the current increase in foreclosures is the clarification of the foreclosure process for banks. As a result, more homeowners in Florida, especially Miami, are receiving notices of foreclosure at a faster rate. So much so, that it has given the state the rating of being the top state in the nation when it comes to foreclosures according to RealtyTrac.

Most of the time there'd be nothing to complain about when someone gets a check in the mail. It's always better than getting a bill. A check is worthless, however, if there's no money in the bank to back it up.

Our previous post about foreclosure victims served as a reminder that those victims, some in Florida, should watch their mailboxes for checks to help compensate them for their loss. The first wave of the checks has been received. Unfortunately, just about as soon as they were received, they bounced.

The Casey Anthony case wasn't just one of the most notorious Florida criminal cases in recent years but one of the most notorious murder cases in the country. Though a jury acquitted Anthony of the murder charge, the public still tends to see the mother of the deceased Caley as criminal.

Anthony is out of the line of fire in the criminal case related to her daughter's death, but she now has a target on her due to the debts that she owes. Her biggest debt (debt that she probably feels was worth it) is owed to her criminal defense team. She has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, and a recent development in her case has sparked major debate among those involved.