1.2 Million Florida Homeowners At Serious Risk of Mortgage Foreclosure

Published by on November 6, 2008

Florida homeowners are at an extremely high risk of mortgage foreclosure. Florida, like California, saw house prices skyrocket the past 10 years, and now is reeling from the effects of the recession forcing many homeowners close to foreclosure.

What’s alarming is nearly one in three Florida mortgage borrowers owed more on their loans than their homes were worth in the third quarter, according to a report issued Friday.

If home prices dip another 5 percent, nearly 200,000 more Florida borrowers would slip under water.

This would put up to 1,400,000 homeowners at serious risk for foreclosure. Obama may be the President-elect, but he needs to start getting his transition team wrapped up and get this lame duck Congress moving.

Relief to Help Mortgage Foreclosures

There is a proposed relief package for the lame-duck session on November 17th, but it makes no mention of mortgage-relief.

The House legislation would have extended unemployment insurance, provided additional food stamp assistance, given states help in covering Medicaid costs and backed the development of more fuel-efficient vehicles.

With this relief package, the Government needs to install the moratorium on foreclosures or help homeowners in Florida who are facing more debt than their home is worth.

Risk of Homeowners Walking Away

If a homeowner owes more on their home than the home is worth, there is a risk homeowners will just walk away from their mortgage. It’s in the homeowners best interests, in the near-term, and the major effect would be a possible bankruptcy declaration or defaulting on their bills.

This is not a good position for a homeowner, but if they recognize that the home may be foreclosed on them a year from now, all of their mortgage payments they make in the interim would go to waste, effectively losing them a lot of money.

The Government needs to get back on the side of the consumer, and put the incentive back into staying in your home, and paying your mortgage off, and this can only come with more security, backing from the Government, and a pledge to preserve people’s mortgages, the way the Government backed the large banks and insurers.

So we have 1.2 million Florida homeowners at a high-risk of foreclosure, and help is needed. The Government needs to put in mortgage relief in this possible lame-duck session November 17th.