Bankruptcy and Foreclosure Attorney Blog

A recent feature story in the Florida Times-Union details how the jump in distressed home sales has adversely impacted the Jacksonville housing market, dragging down property values while also helping some homeowners avoid foreclosure.

According to the Northeast Florida Association of Realtors, distressed home sales are more than 40 percent of all closings. Historically, distressed sales have accounted for less than 10 percent of the market.

Distressed sales include short sales, foreclosures and bank-owned, or REO, sales.

This leap has dragged down median selling prices for the entire First Coast area, which includes Clay, Duval Putnam, Nassau and St. Johns counties, where the distressed sale median price dropped by almost 30 percent in the last two years.

One local housing expert says that until home values recover, the market will not return to normal. Even though sales are up in the past few months, those sales are largely to investors who are taking advantage of a depressed market to buy cheap real estate.

If you are a First Coast resident who is facing foreclosure, there are options available to you. To learn more about foreclosure defenses, contact our Jacksonville foreclosure law firm.

The July Foreclosure Report from RealtyTrac is out, and Florida still has the third highest foreclosure rate in the nation, with one of ever 171 Florida homes receiving a foreclosure filing notice in July 2010.

Foreclosure filings include default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions. Nationwide, these rose four percent over the previous month but declined ten percent from one year ago.

Florida accounted for 16 percent of the nation’s foreclosure filing total, with 51,557 properties listed. The top 10 Florida counties and their foreclosure filing totals for July are:

1. Miami-Dade – 7,107
2. Broward – 6,471
3. Lee – 3,958
4. Palm Beach – 3,759
5. Orange – 3,628
6. Hillsborough – 2,804
7. Duval – 1,839
8. Polk – 1,687
9. Pinellas – 1,670
10. Brevard – 1,512

In addition, the Cape Coral-Fort Myers metro area suffered one of the largest monthly increases in Florida foreclosure filings, which were up 21 percent there from the previous month.

July also marked the 17th consecutive month that foreclosures in the U.S. exceeded 300,000. New default notices declined for the sixth straight month, but were offset by a near-record level of bank repossessions during the month.

If you are a Florida homeowner facing possible foreclosure, contact our Jacksonville, Florida foreclosure law firm.

A CNNMoney.com report says that a number of U.S. condo markets, including Florida, are experiencing units priced “lower than a Toyota Corolla”, selling at or even below $25,000.

And while median home prices have fallen over 20 percent nationwide in the past four years, condo prices have fallen even more. According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), condominium prices have declined almost 25 percent since 2007.

NAR reports that in Miami, condo prices have plummeted by 65% from where they stood in 2007. And, the article notes, prices for individual units are down even lower, like for a Deerfield Beach, Florida, unit that was recently listed for $25,000, a drop of almost 80 percent from its purchase price five years ago of $115,000.

Investors are beginning to snap up these bargains, and many of them are coming from outside the United States.

A recent Jacksonville Business Journal article noted a new flurry of purchase activity in Northeast Florida by international buyers, attracted by coastal property that is selling for sometimes as much as half of that in South Florida.

NAR says that buyers from Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong and China are the most active groups buying residential real estate in the U.S. According to their latest statistics, foreign investment in U.S. residential real estate the last year was around $907 billion.

If you are a Florida resident who is facing foreclosure, there are options available to you. To learn more about foreclosure defense, contact our Jacksonville foreclosure law firm.

Analysts for Capital Economics and Moody’s Investors Service say that both home sales and prices are still falling, and the U.S. housing market has not seen the bottom yet for both.

In its U.S. Housing Market Monthly Report, Capital Economics said that the number of pending home sales is down 32 percent following the expiration of the tax credit and that existing sales will follow this trend as soon as mortgage agreements are finalized on those tax credit home sales.

Moody’s has said that the odds are now one in four that a double-dip recession will occur, and if it does, housing prices may fall another 20 percent before stabilizing in 2012.

The Capital Economics report says that the housing market is currently experiencing excess housing inventory, and recorded a record high 11 percent homeowner and vacancy rate in the second quarter of 2010. It said that new home starts are also contributing to the excess housing supply.

Moody’s predicts that home sales and residential construction will be up slightly by the end of the year, while housing prices will depreciate “a bit more.”

If you are a Florida homeowner facing possible foreclosure, contact our Jacksonville, Florida foreclosure law firm.

There was a significant slowdown in business bankruptcy filings in the first six months of 2010, but consumer bankruptcy filings rose 15 percent from the same period one year ago, according to statistics from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.

The national rate of Chapter 11 bankruptcy filings fell by 17 percent in the first half of this year, compared with the same period one year ago. Experts believe that better credit availability allowed troubled businesses to restructure their debt without having to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The number of Chapter 7 business liquidation filings in the U.S. for the first half of 2010 was essentially flat.

However, consumers faced with a still-weak economy and soft job market are having to turn to bankruptcy as a solution for their debt woes in increasing numbers. Consumer bankruptcy filings for 2010 are still on track to exceed annual highs since the bankruptcy laws changed in 2005. There were over 781,000 consumer bankruptcy filings for the first six months of 2010, which was 15 percent higher than one year ago.

Florida was 15th on the national list of consumer bankruptcy filings on a per capita basis, with nearly six in every 1,000 residents filing for Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy in the first half of the year.

If you have a large amount of consumer debt and need help in making a good decision about your financial future, contact our Jacksonville, Florida bankruptcy law firm.

A survey by Sallie Mae and Gallup says that American families are borrowing more and spending more savings to cover college costs, which rose 17 percent on average in the 2009-10 school year.

The survey of over 1,600 college students and parents conducted last spring revealed that while more families were implementing cost-cutting measures, like students living at home and eliminating college choices based on cost.

Other findings included:

Parents pay over 37 percent of a student’s college expenses by tapping into savings, using current income or taking out a loan. The second biggest contributor is grants and scholarships, which covered 23 percent of college expenses.

The number of parents who said they borrowed money to pay for college rose to 46 percent, from 42 percent one year earlier. Parents paying from income and savings rose 26 percent.

Students borrowing to pay college expenses jumped from 16 percent to 25 percent in the past year.

For families with annual household incomes of $100,000 to $150,000, the average cost of college increased as much as 30 percent. For those with annual household incomes of under $100,000, costs rose almost 20 percent.

Most financial experts agree that parents who take money from savings and current income or borrow heavily face a greater risk for financial problems of their own in the future. If spending for college has had a negative impact on your personal finances and you are considering filing bankruptcy to recover, contact our Jacksonville, Florida bankruptcy law firm.

If you set up your business as a sole proprietorship or general partnership, that means you are personally liable for all of the debts of your business. That also means you can get them discharged in Chapter 7 personal bankruptcy.

If your business is a corporation or limited liability company (LLC) and you personally guaranteed some business debts, these are also dischargeable in Chapter 7 bankruptcy.
Using Chapter 7 personal bankruptcy, you can also wipe out the following business debts:

• Credit card debt
• Judgments awarded against the business via a lawsuit
• Medical debt
• Unsecured business debts (bills for professional services, supplier invoices, etc.)
• Lease and contract obligations
• Personal loans and/or promissory notes

If you have secured business debts, the lender can seize the property securing the loan for nonpayment. If you owe more on a secured debt than the collateral is worth, the difference can be discharged in bankruptcy.

As part of the bankruptcy process, the court may decide to close your business, either temporarily or permanently. However, chances are that if you can discharge your business debt through Chapter 7 bankruptcy, you can start a similar business if you wish when the bankruptcy process ends.

Abuses of the Florida foreclosure process by so-called “foreclosure mill” law firms has led the Florida Attorney General’s Economic Crimes Division to expand its inquiry into the actions of several more law firms in Fort Lauderdale, Tampa and Plantation.

An article in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune recently outlined several examples of how the flood of foreclosure filings in Florida has led to abuses throughout the system, with many properties being unjustly taken:

A Pasco County homeowner’s attorney discovered that a court document giving possession of the mortgage to Wells Fargo had apparently been backdated, leading the judge to throw out the case and ruling that the law firm involved engaged in “an intentional effort to mislead the defendant and the court.”

Two law firms representing two different banks filed for foreclosure on the same property in Palm Beach County using the same mortgage note.

Attorneys for homeowners in Palm Beach County found numerous instances where two of the law firms being investigated by the Attorney General’s office had signed mortgage assignments that pre-dated the start of the notary’s commission, making them clearly fraudulent.

Many Florida foreclosure defense attorneys have similar stories, which is why it is important for homeowners facing foreclosure to go to court to protect their rights. For more information, contact our Jacksonville Florida foreclosure defense law firm.

According to the National Association of Realtors, condominium prices in the Jacksonville area suffered the largest drop – 42 percent -- among 61 U.S. metro areas during the second quarter of 2010, compared with the same period one year ago.

The median price for Jacksonville condos went from almost $127,000 in the second quarter of 2009 to $74,200 this year. However, the severe drop in prices also attracted bargain hunters – condo sales rose 90 percent year-over-year, according to the Florida Association of Realtors.

One realtor noted that the reason for the large drop was the increased number of foreclosures and short sales on top of a market glut of condominium units that were built during the 2005-06 real estate boom.

Comparatively, Jacksonville single family home prices are more stable, dropping by only nine percent during the second quarter, from $160,300 to $145,100. Sales volumes for single family residences rose 33 percent during the second quarter of 2010, from 3,054 in 2009 to 4,073 this year.

According to Zillow.com, a real estate data aggregator, almost half of Jacksonville condos and single family homes are underwater on their mortgages, meaning more is owed on the mortgage than what the property is worth.

If you are underwater on your mortgage and want to avoid foreclosure, contact our Jacksonville Florida foreclosure defense law firm.

Greenfield Advisors, a Seattle-based company that provides real estate valuation and advisory services, has launched a website -- www.gulfspillvaluations.com -- that allows property owners who have potentially been impacted by the Gulf oil spill to get information on the impact to their property values.

The company said that the new site allows users to identify their property and get a report immediately that shows any projected decrease in value. The report also provides information on the methodology used to determine the value. They suggest that property owners use the report to file with any claim documents they may plan to send to BP asking for compensation.

According to an article at REO Insider, it is estimated that 44 counties in the Gulf region, including Florida, Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas, have been impacted by the Gulf oil spill.

Earlier this month, CoreLogic projected a potential loss of $3 billion in property values for residential real estate along the Gulf Coast.

Greenfield says that is uses tax assessor records to calculate a “pre-incident” valuation, and then determines the decrease in value using several proprietary techniques they have used in the past for events like Hurricane Katrina and the Exxon Valdez oil spill.

If your property value has decreased to a point where you are in danger of foreclosure, contact our Jacksonville Florida foreclosure defense law firm.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York reports that total U.S. household delinquency rates declined for the first time since 2006 during the second quarter of 2010, from 11.9 percent to 11.2 percent. Researchers largely credit a renewed emphasis on paying off old debt and the elimination of debt through bankruptcy for the decrease.

In its quarterly report on household debt and credit, the NY Fed also said that Americans owed 6.4 percent less than they did in 2008, the peak year for national consumer debt. However, the number of people with a new bankruptcy rose 34 percent in the second quarter of this year.

Nationally, the leading delinquency rate category is for credit card debt, followed by student loan debt, mortgage debt and auto loan debt. Transitions from early delinquency (30-60 days) into serious delinquency (+ 90 days) showed a sharp improvement during the second quarter, dropping from 39 percent to 33 percent, the lowest deterioration rate in the past two years.

The report also noted significant regional differences, with Florida, Nevada, Arizona and California all reporting higher than average delinquency and foreclosure rates. Nevada overtook Florida as the state with the highest percentage of delinquency rates, at around 20 percent.

If you have a large amount of consumer debt and need help in making a good decision about your financial future, contact our Jacksonville, Florida bankruptcy law firm.

If you think you want to file Chapter 7 bankruptcy, there is a comprehensive “means test” used to determine if you can qualify. In general, you can qualify for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in Florida if your monthly income over the past six months has averaged:

• One-person household: $3,423
• Two-person household: $4,339
• Three-person household: $4,864
• Four-person household: $5,730

However, just like with income taxes, there are a number of exemptions that may qualify you even if your monthly income exceeds these levels. A Jacksonville bankruptcy attorney can help you figure out if a Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing is best for you, or if a Chapter 13 bankruptcy filing may suit your situation better.

To qualify for Florida Chapter 13 bankruptcy, your secured debt (mortgages, car loans) cannot exceed $1,081,400 and your unsecured debt (credit card debt, medical bills, etc.) cannot exceed $360,475.

In addition, you must have sufficient income to repay your debts. Income sources can include a spouse’s income, your wages or unemployment benefits, pensions, Social Security benefits, workers’ compensation or disability benefits, child support or alimony you receive, rent, royalty income or proceeds from selling property.

You must also be current on your state and federal tax filings for four years prior to filing for Chapter 13 bankruptcy.

Bank of America announced that its total number of permanent mortgage loan workouts under the government’s Home Affordable Mortgage Program (HAMP) increased almost six percent in July.

HAMP was launched in March of 2009 and provides lenders with incentives to modify loans for those homeowners who are on the verge of foreclosure. Bank of America said it converted over 4,300 trial loan modifications into permanent modifications last month, and has completed another 100,000 permanent modifications via its own programs as well.

For distressed borrowers who are found to be ineligible for permanent loan modifications, either through the HAMP or its own programs, Bank of America said it is launching a new cooperative short sale program as an alternative to foreclosure.

Under the new short sale program, Bank of America will waive deficiencies for pre-screened borrowers and assign a short sale specialist to work with the homeowner and their real estate agent to market the property for up to four months.

Once the property is sold, the bank will provide the former homeowner with a $3,000 relocation fee. If the property does not sell, the bank will accept a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure to satisfy the mortgage.

Bank of America says it is targeting the new short sale program to homeowners in Florida, California, Nevada and Arizona.

An article in the St. Petersburg Times profiled Pasco-Pinellas Circuit Court Judge Wayne Cobb, who came back from retirement to help clear the backlog of foreclosure cases currently clogging Florida courts.

Judge Cobb estimated that in his 20 years on the bench prior to his 2008 retirement, he probably heard no more than a dozen foreclosure cases. Today, he clears up to 100 cases a day.

And he has a word of advice for homeowners facing foreclosure who want to keep their homes: get aggressive.

According to the article, Judge Cobb sits in a hearing room and takes each case one by one. He uses a speakerphone to talk to the bank’s lawyer. Usually the homeowner doesn’t even show up. And if that is the case, then he has no choice but to give the home back to the bank without a trial. He sets an auction date and case closed.

If a borrower does show up to object, Judge Cobb listens and while he has no authority to help homeowners get a new loan, he does usually set a sale date of 90 to 120 days out to give them more time to find a solution.

He says he always tells borrowers that they have to be aggressive in seeking a solution if they want to keep their homes: “The squeaky wheel gets the grease. I try to tell them, you really got to squeak.”

If you are a Florida homeowner who wants to avoid foreclosure, contact our Jacksonville Florida foreclosure defense law firm.

On July 28, U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Karen Jenneman ruled in In re Hoffman -- a case involving 10 Orlando area debtors seeking to discharge junior liens as part of their Chapter 7 bankruptcy filings – that junior liens cannot be discharged as part of a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, as they can in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy filing.

The judge cited Supreme Court case Dewsnup v. Timm, 502 U.S. 410, 417 (1992) as the basis for her ruling that Chapter 7 debtors cannot avoid wholly unsecured junior liens under Bankruptcy Code Section 506(d).

Declining to depart from the Supreme Court ruling in Dewsnap, Judge Jenneman wrote:

In sum, Dewsnup compels the Court to hold that Chapter 7 debtors, including those in these cases, may not “strip off” their respective wholly unsecured junior mortgage liens under § 506(d). Although the junior liens encumbering the debtors’ homes are entirely valueless (at least today), they, according to the Supreme Court, are still allowed claims under § 502 that are secured by a mortgage lien. Therefore, they are “allowed secured claims” and are not subject to avoidance under § 506(d).

The relevance to Florida residents who file bankruptcy hoping to discharge junior liens is significant, because the ability to do so will depend on the debtor’s ability to qualify for Chapter 13 bankruptcy. Debtors do not have to pass a means test in order to file Chapter 7 bankruptcy.

For this and many other reasons, be sure to consult a Florida bankruptcy attorney if you are considering filing bankruptcy.

A recent Wall Street Journal article reported that just months after passage of the Credit Card Accountability Responsibility and Disclosure Act of 2009, the credit card industry is rolling out new fees in an attempt to recapture some of its lost revenue.

The Card Act legislation, which restricted a number of controversial fees for things like account inactivity and regulated hikes in interest rates, was expected to cost the credit card companies an estimated $390 million annually in lost revenue. A number of consumer interest groups have already filed complaints with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, saying that banks may already be violating the Card Act with their new products.

One of those products is a “professional card,” which is being marketed to millions of Americans. Masquerading as a corporate credit card, these new cards carry the same terms as consumer cards and the new law does not cover them.

Another product recently introduced by Citibank is a “rebate” card, which refunds up to 70 percent of finance charges if the consumer pays on time. However, rebate cards are also not covered by the Card Act, and issuers can revoke them abruptly and charge cardholders higher rates.

Additional ways that credit card companies are trying to minimize the effects of the Card Act on their bottom line include raising balance transfer fees and minimum finance charges, instituting annual card fees, charging upfront processing fees and raising foreign transaction fees.

If you are struggling with unmanageable debt, contact our Jacksonville bankruptcy law firm.

The Federal Trade Commission has announced amendments to its Telemarketing Sales Rule that will prohibit debt settlement companies from charging fees in advance for settling or reducing a consumer’s unsecured debt.

In addition, the FTC imposed additional rules that will require debt relief companies to:

• Make specific disclosures to consumers, including precise details about the service they are providing, how much it will cost, how long it will take and any negative consequences a consumer may suffer by settling his or her debt through the service.
• Cease making misrepresentations as to success rates and purporting to be a nonprofit entity as well as providing evidence to consumers when making advertising claims.
• Require dedicated consumer accounts for fees and savings at an insured financial institution.

The new rules extend the Telemarketing Sales Rule to cover calls consumers make to these firms in response to debt relief advertising.

The new rules go into effect on Sept. 27, 2010, and are in response to consumer complaints ab out debt settlement relief company fraud and misrepresentation. To date, the FTC has filed 259 cases to stop debt relief providers from using deceptive and abusive practices targeting financially distressed consumers.

Before you consider working with a debt relief provider, you should consider speaking with a Jacksonville bankruptcy attorney to learn about all your options for debt relief.

Two more bidders described as “top-flight hotel and hospitality investors” by the Amelia Island Company’s special counsel have joined Atlanta-based Noble Investment Group in bidding for the Amelia Island Plantation when it goes on the U.S. Bankruptcy Court auction block on Aug. 23 in Jacksonville.

Amelia Island Co., the current owner of the resort, filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy last November and submitted a reorganization plan to the bankruptcy court in May that featured a $45.9 million buyout bid from Noble. Additional investors must submit higher bids in order to purchase the resort, which features an oceanfront hotel and conference center, four golf courses and nine restaurants.

According to an article in the Florida Times-Union, all bidders say they plan to invest additional monies in the resort to enhance and expand operations. In a filing this week, the current owners said that it is imperative to confirm the plan as soon as possible, as the company does not have available funds to see the property through the slower winter months. The filing also conveyed the current ownership’s concern that if the resort is forced to close its doors, it would lose value.

There will be a hearing to confirm the plan three days following the Aug. 23 auction, on Aug. 26. If the plan is approved, Amelia Island Co. would then emerge from bankruptcy.

While the economy may be slowly recovering, job losses continue to grow. If you happen to be in Chapter 13 bankruptcy and lose your job, making it impossible to make your agreed-upon payments, what are your options?

First, you need to notify your bankruptcy attorney immediately. Although your options may be limited, your bankruptcy attorney can explain them to you and together you can decide on the best course of action.

Loan Modification – If you are now unable to make your mortgage or car payments because of a job loss, your lenders may be willing to grant a limited-time deferment of payment or further modify the terms of your loan. But time is of the essence here – you want to start working with your lenders as soon as possible so you do not default on your Chapter 13 bankruptcy plan.

Chapter 13 Dismissal – You may be able to get the court to dismiss your Chapter 13 bankruptcy and deal with your creditors yourself.

Chapter 13 Conversion – If you no longer have any income or any assets with equity, you may be able to convert your Chapter 13 bankruptcy into a Chapter 7 bankruptcy, making it possible for you to pay your essential bills and ignore other creditors. You must qualify for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, and your bankruptcy attorney can provide you with the information you need to determine if you qualify.

If you have a question regarding bankruptcy, please contact our Jacksonville bankruptcy law firm.

Real Estate Disposition Corp. (REDC), one of the country’s largest real estate auction companies, conducted a six-day, eight-city auction series across Florida during the first week in August, which featured 1,500 new foreclosure properties for sale.

So far in 2010, REDC has auctioned 2,550 foreclosures in Florida for a total of $125 million. According to the company, the August auction was one of the largest foreclosure auctions in history. Company officials said that the first four days of the auction generated $31.4 million in sales from events held in Orlando and Miami. The auction also visited Jacksonville, Tampa, Fort Myers, Ocala, Melbourne and Sarasota.

According to an REO Insider article, more than 50 banks, investors and financial institutions have properties included in the Florida auction. These properties included homes that were active listings as well as those selected to go straight to auction following foreclosure repossession.

In a press statement, an REDC spokesman said, “There are amazing properties that will be in these auctions — properties that just became available. They include million-dollar and half-million-dollar mansions and homes that homebuyers will be purchasing for as much as 50-60% less than the properties’ previous high value.”

Are you a Florida homeowner who is currently facing foreclosure? Contact our Jacksonville foreclosure defense law firm for help.

Lending giant Fannie Mae has launched a new website – www.KnowYourOptions.com -- to help financially distressed homeowners learn more about possible alternatives to foreclosure.

The new website is available in both English and Spanish, and features calculators to help borrowers understand different alternatives to foreclosure, including refinancing, repayment, mortgage modification and forbearance.

The website also provides information on Fannie Mae’s Deed-for Lease program, which allows homeowners to stay in their homes by becoming renters, as well as financial forms, checklists and information for borrowers on how to contact their mortgage servicer.

According to the Fannie Mae press release on the new website, key features of the site include:

• An interactive Options Finder to assist borrowers in identifying options that may be appropriate for their circumstances;
• Calculators to help borrowers understand how many of the options work;
• Videos featuring real homeowners talking about the solutions they found to help, as well as housing counselors who provide advice on foreclosure prevention;
• A virtual assistant that guides homeowners through key areas of the site; and
• Tools that help borrowers prepare for contacting their mortgage company or housing counselor.

If you are a Florida homeowner currently facing foreclosure, one of the most helpful tools is discussing your situation with a Florida foreclosure defense attorney.

A foreclosure mediation program that helps homeowners meet with their lenders face-to-face to try to work out a loan modification or other way to help prevent foreclosure is expanding in Northeast Florida, according to the Florida Times-Union.

A foreclosure mediation program is already in place for the Fourth Judicial Circuit, which includes Duval, Clay and Nassau counties, and is being administered by the Jacksonville Bar Association. According to program statistics, there are currently over 500 homeowners participating in that program.

Another foreclosure mediation program was launched in July for the Seventh Judicial Circuit, which includes St. Johns, Flagler, Volusia and Putnam counties.

Any homeowner facing the foreclosure of a primary residence is eligible to participate in the foreclosure mediation program. The first step in the program is mandatory credit counseling for the homeowner, which is being administered by Jacksonville Area Legal Aid. Homeowners meet with a counselor to go over their household budget and to ascertain if they are available for any of the federal mortgage modification programs.

Following that, homeowners then meet with their lenders and an impartial mediator to negotiate a mortgage modification, short sale, deed in lieu of foreclosure or any other options. If no compromise can be reached, foreclosure proceedings will continue, since lenders cannot be forced to accept a compromise.

A rare Superman comic book found while a family was packing up their foreclosed home is estimated to fetch up to $250,000 when it goes to auction later this month, and will save the family’s home from foreclosure.

The family, who lives in the southern U.S. and spoke to ABC News on condition of anonymity, said the home that had been in their family for over 50 years. It was in the process of being foreclosed on by their lender because of missed payments on a second mortgage they took out to start a new business, which failed in the bad economy. As they were packing their belongings, they went to their basement and began sifting through old boxes, trying to find packing boxes, when they stumbled on several comic books.

One of those turned out to be a rare Action No. 1 comic from 1938, the first to feature Superman, which originally sold for a dime. Last week, the family received a rating on the comic of 5.0 VG (very good)/Fine rating, and will auction their find on ComicConnect.com beginning Aug. 27. It is estimated to sell for up to $250,000.

A ComicConnect.com spokesman said there are estimated to be only 100 copies of Action Comics No. 1 in existence, of which only a few are in good condition. In the last 18 months, seven copies have been discovered. Earlier this year, copies sold for $1 million and $1.5 million; another copy sold for over $300,000 last year.

According to foreclosure statistics for the first six months of 2010 just released by RealtyTrac, the Jacksonville metro area ranks 26th on a list of U.S. cities with the highest number of homes in foreclosure. With one of every 39 homes in some stage of the foreclosure process from January to June, the foreclosure rate in Jacksonville is almost 13 percent higher than for the same time period one year ago.

However, the Jacksonville foreclosure rate is actually down eight percent from the end of 2009.

The #1 market for foreclosures continues to be Las Vegas, where one in every 15 homes is in foreclosure. However, Florida had a total of 12 cities in the Top 30 and continues to be second only to California in the total number of homes statewide that are in the foreclosure process.

The 12 Florida cities in the top 30 of 206 U.S. metro areas from the RealtyTrac report and their rankings were:

2. Cape Coral-Fort Myers
8. Orlando
10. Miami
13. Naples
15. Daytona
16. Port St. Lucie
17. Lakeland
18. Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville
20. Tampa
23. Sarasota-Bradenton-Venice
24. Ocala
26. Jacksonville

Dallas Mavericks Owner Mark Cuban is reportedly doing due diligence on the Texas Rangers finances as he ponders a bid for the MLB’s Texas Rangers franchise, that will be up for auction on Aug. 4 as part of the team’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing.

The Dallas News and ESPN both report that Cuban has not yet decided whether or not to submit a bid to purchase the team, and that he is currently reviewing the team’s finances. A U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge in Fort Worth set Aug. 4 as the date for the Rangers auction; bids are due the evening of Aug. 3.

A Wall Street Journal article compared Cuban’s potential bid to that of Jim Balsillie for the NHL’s Phoenix Coyotes, where the NHL prevailed in blocking the sale to the Blackberry mogul. There has been speculation by the media that MLB owners would not welcome Cuban into the fold, based on his high profile antagonistic relationship with the NBA as the owner of the Dallas Mavericks.

However, some legal experts say that if Cuban’s bid is competitive, the bankruptcy judge may find it difficult to dismiss the offer based on MLB ownership preferences. In fact, U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge D. Michael Lynn has already made it clear that the league does not have total authority over the team’s fate.

A new study has found that a federal program launched two years ago – the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) – has only used about one-quarter of the $541 million granted to the state of Florida for programs to prevent foreclosures, and the remainder must be spent by the end of September or be returned to the federal government.

The study was commissioned by the Miami Workers Center, and found that the Miami-Dade NSP has only spent a fraction of the $62 million it was given to purchase homes and provide down payment assistance to home buyers.

In fact, the study found that only $5,146 of a $3.75 million budget for down payment assistance had been spent as of the end of April, and only 29 single-family foreclosures had been purchased out of the 50 that had been identified.

Accordingly, the Miami-Dade NSP has changed its strategy from buying single-family properties to using the federal funds to purchase multi-family complexes. Its director says that the money allocated to Miami-Dade should be spent by the September deadline.

The study showed that Florida’s NSP programs have faced a number of challenges, including complex federal requirements, the lack of available credit for low income home buyers and an influx of cash investors competing for Florida foreclosure properties.

A survey of judges by the American Bar Association has found that more people are representing themselves in court and doing a pretty poor job of it, according to a story in the Washington Post about the ABA survey.

The economic downturn that has created a huge increase in foreclosure filings, bankruptcies and domestic relations disputes is also responsible for more people deciding they cannot afford legal representation.

However, almost two-thirds of the judges surveyed said that those who show up in court without a lawyer are negatively impacted. Judges said the most common errors made by the self-represented included failure to present necessary evidence, procedural mistakes, ineffective witness preparation and failure to adequately object to evidence.

In addition, most judges surveyed said that those who choose to represent themselves stress the court system and slow the legal process.

The survey also found a decrease in the availability of legal representation traditionally provided by civil legal aid programs, also believed to be a result of the economic downturn. Many programs have had their funding dry up in the past two years, leaving those who need but cannot afford legal representation high and dry.

A new study from an economist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University researchers says that a foreclosure reduces the value of a house by 27 percent, on average.

The study entitled Forced Sales and House Prices by Parag Pathak, an MIT economist, and Harvard researchers John Campbell and Stefano Giglio will be published in an upcoming issue of the American Economic Review, and concluded that a foreclosure has a much larger negative impact on the value of a house than either a forced sale as the result of bankruptcy or an owner’s death.

According to Pathak, a bankruptcy sale drops the value of a home by an average of three percent, while a sale as the result of the owner’s death can reduce a home’s value by five to seven percent.

Using data on home sales in Massachusetts for the past 20 years, the study also showed that a foreclosure drops the value of neighboring homes by an average of one percent. Not surprisingly, foreclosure discounts are larger for lower priced properties in distressed neighborhoods, which the authors conclude is because the foreclosing lenders are incentivized to accept bigger discounts when they face greater fixed costs of home ownership that are probably related to vandalism.

The number of homes for sale or in jeopardy of foreclosure is so high that many economists are predicting home prices will continue to deteriorate well into next year, and it may be a decade before prices recover to their peak level of 2006.

According to the Associated Press, analysts’ predictions that home prices may have reached their low point earlier this year have proven to be untrue and they now think the bottom may be another year away.

Moody’s Analytics predicts that housing prices will drop another 10 percent in already hard hit cities like Phoenix, Las Vegas and Miami over the next 12 months, and that other major metropolitan areas – including Tampa, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, San Diego, Denver, Detroit, Minneapolis, Cleveland and Washington, D.C. – will see prices decline another two to eight percent over the next year.

The rising rate of foreclosures and a glut of homes already on the market are the main reasons for the predicted decline. Miami currently has the highest level of delinquent mortgages in the country with nearly 25 percent of borrowers who have missed at least three months of mortgage payments. Four other Florida cities – Cape Coral, Ft. Lauderdale, Naples and West Palm Beach – also have a high level of mortgage delinquencies, currently around 15 percent.

The Federal Trade Commission announced that it has banned eight companies and individuals from selling mortgage modification or foreclosure relief services to consumers for deceptive advertising practices.

The FTC has also ordered the eight firms and individuals to return almost $30 million in fees they had collected from clients. To date, the FTC has brought a total of 29 cases against mortgage relief servicers who falsely advertise to consumers that they can provide mortgage relief and prevent foreclosure in exchange for large, up-front fees.

The following defendants were named in the FTC settlement:

Federal Loan Modification Law Center – Steven Oscherowitz was ordered to pay a $11.5 million judgment, representing the amount he charged consumers for a so-called “federal loan modification program.”

Loss Mitigation Services dba Direct Lender or DirectLender.com – Dean Shafer, Marion Anthony “Tony” Perry and Bernadette Perry were ordered to pay a $6.2 million judgment for allegedly misrepresenting themselves as affiliates of the consumer’s lender or mortgage servicer and for falsely promising a refund if they failed to secure a mortgage modification.

Hope Now Modifications – Salvatore Puglia and Nicholas Puglia were ordered to pay a $5.3 million judgment for falsely claiming they could obtain mortgage loan modifications and for misrepresenting an affiliation with the Hope Now Alliance, a free federal homeowner assistance program.