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Wow, I have not read the Florida statute but it is 20 years for real on real estate loans?
Not only that but can come with penalties and interest. It is worse then a exwife being after you. Often people lose their homes over liens about things like they didn't clean up their yards. They ignore it as it adds up as they think " Who cares, what can they do to me". Over time they owe more then the house is worth and end up just losing it rather then pay a debt they could not pay anyway.
Anyone taking this lightly about walking away remind me of the people who think that don't have to pay income tax because it is unconstitutional. Sounds good till you end up in jail like a few have. One guy who is in jail actually wrote a book on why he didn't pay his taxes and you don't have to either.
by the way, did you read the story in the link I posted?
Bottom line, you don't want these people after you no matter what. Like I said in an earlier post you will have people going after you who will make a full time profession of it, a specificity. The banks don't sell the debt, it is done on a contingency. You may have dozens of collectors going after you for one debt if it is worth doing. They are like bounty hunters and with the net today there is no way to hide. They will find you in ten minutes once they set their focus on you.
Not like in the old day when you could just leave town. It's like years ago when people made a living writing bad checks. All they had to do was move to a new town and ply their trade. Today you could write a bad check in LA and get arrested in Fla. trying to write another to a store you don't know is owned by the same corporation and you are in their system.
Times have changed for the small time bad guys.
I used to have a guy who came in by bar who was a bad check artist. He would actually take you shopping and buy you what ever you wanted for like 30 cents on the dollar. He had ID that showed him as a postal worker, home owner with deposit slips check stubs all kinds of stuff, anybody would take his checks.
He was one of the first busted when they got computers. It was what I had said earlier, the store already knew who he was even though he had never been in that store before. They stalled him there till the cops arrived. He got 45 years for bad checks. It was estimated he had written over 3 million dollars in bad checks. When he was arrested he had about $10.00 to his name. It all went to race tracks, every penny.
That's the standard for judgements in most states.
Some states consider real estate loans as open ended contracts and others considered it as written contracts. That effects the statute of limitations to be collected.
I just read it and it appears Florida is somewhat different then most states actually. Ohio is only 5 years.
It's 10 years on real estate in Florida but -- a judgment can be renewed for another 10 years as long as they renew the judgment after the 10 year period. In most cases unless it is mega bucks they won't touch it.
This is an interesting read. Florida seems to have some problems with the law and how it is to be read.
Until recently, this statute provided clear guidance for Florida lenders and title companies. However, a recent Fourth District Court decision, if adopted by the other district courts, has the capability to turn the lending industry in Florida upside down. Historically, title companies and lenders ignored judgment liens that were greater than 10-years old as beyond the sub-statute of limitations and their underwriting guidelines instructed underwriters that any judgment lien not renewed “prior to” expiration could no longer be a lien on real property.
Now Hundreds of Millions of dollars of Florida title policies are now suspect; and these once dead, now revitalized, once expired liens may prevent homeowners from being able to refinance or sell their homes.
Not only that but can come with penalties and interest. It is worse then a exwife being after you. Often people lose their homes over liens about things like they didn't clean up their yards. They ignore it as it adds up as they think " Who cares, what can they do to me". Over time they owe more then the house is worth and end up just losing it rather then pay a debt they could not pay anyway.
Anyone taking this lightly about walking away remind me of the people who think that don't have to pay income tax because it is unconstitutional. Sounds good till you end up in jail like a few have. One guy who is in jail actually wrote a book on why he didn't pay his taxes and you don't have to either.
by the way, did you read the story in the link I posted?
Bottom line, you don't want these people after you no matter what. Like I said in an earlier post you will have people going after you who will make a full time profession of it, a specificity. The banks don't sell the debt, it is done on a contingency. You may have dozens of collectors going after you for one debt if it is worth doing. They are like bounty hunters and with the net today there is no way to hide. They will find you in ten minutes once they set their focus on you.
Not like in the old day when you could just leave town. It's like years ago when people made a living writing bad checks. All they had to do was move to a new town and ply their trade. Today you could write a bad check in LA and get arrested in Fla. trying to write another to a store you don't know is owned by the same corporation and you are in their system.
Times have changed for the small time bad guys.
I used to have a guy who came in by bar who was a bad check artist. He would actually take you shopping and buy you what ever you wanted for like 30 cents on the dollar. He had ID that showed him as a postal worker, home owner with deposit slips check stubs all kinds of stuff, anybody would take his checks.
He was one of the first busted when they got computers. It was what I had said earlier, the store already knew who he was even though he had never been in that store before. They stalled him there till the cops arrived. He got 45 years for bad checks. It was estimated he had written over 3 million dollars in bad checks. When he was arrested he had about $10.00 to his name. It all went to race tracks, every penny.
We all know there are crooks and scam artist out there.
I actually have a family in one of my rentals who foreclosed on their home 2 years ago. I normally would not have rented to them but their credit report was flawless until a certain point in their life which was caused by job losses of both of them. No background issues, nothing. Clean as can be. I had a hunch on them and they take care of my rental home just like they own it and do a better job then I even did of caring for the yard etc.
They have changed by way of thinking on this issue. Good people have issues also, like this couple they had no choice in the matter and have turned out to be one of best renters I have ever had.
I can see changes brewing because of the record amounts of foreclosures in Florida and across the country. It is not talked about much but this foreclosure problem has now become somewhat of an epidemic and will need to be addressed soon.
Don't forget that there is more to a judgment than just a lien on real estate. Your bank accounts can be garnished, assets siezed, wages garnished, etc.
Don't forget that there is more to a judgment than just a lien on real estate. Your bank accounts can be garnished, assets siezed, wages garnished, etc.
I would believe like with a bankruptcy in an attempt to avoid debts, you could be found to be committing a fraud. Many of the walkers just don't want to pay even though they have the means to. Not all properties are homesteads with people being left in the streets. Many maybe most were made as an investment with little down using OP money that went south and they want to walk away Scott free like, "Heads I win tails you lose", I don't think so. A court may see it differently with those kinds of cases.
I expect they will. During an audit a couple years ago, I overheard another auditor inform a couple that since they had declared bankruptcy and had a portion of their mortgage had been forgiven as a result of the restructuring, that forgiven portion was now considered taxable income and they owed the tax on that 60K plus interest and penalties.
If it was your homestead and you lived in it for more than two years, they do not consider it taxable income.
I would believe like with a bankruptcy in an attempt to avoid debts, you could be found to be committing a fraud. Many of the walkers just don't want to pay even though they have the means to. Not all properties are homesteads with people being left in the streets. Many maybe most were made as an investment with little down using OP money that went south and they want to walk away Scott free like, "Heads I win tails you lose", I don't think so. A court may see it differently with those kinds of cases.
I am so sick of that holier than thou attitude of some of us doing the right thing while others are just walking away. I have a house that I am $100K under water on - bought it to be my first home, when I bought it I had positive equity in it, now it is under water. On top of that it is smack dab in the middle of the Acreage cancer cluster. Nobody wants to buy in here and maybe I don't feel comfortable risking getting sick to "do the right thing". But, the lender doesn't give a damn. All they see is $$$. Even if it wasn't for the cancer cluster, how does it make sense to hang onto something that will take 6-10 years to just get back to zero equity?
Wake up, businesses do this all the time. They walk away on investments they have taken and later realized will not produce profit. Nobody judges them when they dispose of a bad investment. Also please do not preach the theory how it is a home we are talking about here. American culture has long abandoned the concept of a permanent dwelling, as witnessed by the ongoing crisis. Everything with a pulse was buying and selling homes. The whole building industry is built around the fact that Americans are mobile and that the homes are going to change hands withing a few years. That is why they are all built to look the same and have the same orientation of internal rooms. Finally, the banks/lenders barely ever hang on to your mortgage for longer than 15 minutes nowadays. My mortgage got sold three times in the last two years of its existence.
Everyone's case is different. Anyone thinking of walking on their mortgage should consult an attorney and be ready to go to court. Most likely there will be no court but it could happen. Marital assets are protected from creditors in Florida, as I understand it. A smart guy once told me: keep your assets together and your debts separate. You can read in between the lines of the last sentence and how it would affect your situation if you had the mortgage note only in one of the spouses' names. At least this is my understanding of the laws, I might be wrong, but, anyone can find out within one hour and a few hundred bucks for a consult with a bankruptcy attorney, They will tell you what your outlook is regarding any possible litigation regarding your mortgage. I also heard that in FL the lender has only five years to pursue any deficiency judgment - again, check with your attorney.
Your mileage might vary, isn't that what they say?
I am so sick of that holier than thou attitude of some of us doing the right thing while others are just walking away. I have a house that I am $100K under water on - bought it to be my first home, when I bought it I had positive equity in it, now it is under water. On top of that it is smack dab in the middle of the Acreage cancer cluster. Nobody wants to buy in here and maybe I don't feel comfortable risking getting sick to "do the right thing". But, the lender doesn't give a damn. All they see is $$$.
What do you want them to do? Say it's ok for you to walk? The money you are talking about is my mom's 401K. You want to tell her she has to eat cat food because you don't want to pay back the money you were lent?
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Also please do not preach the theory how it is a home we are talking about here. American culture has long abandoned the concept of a permanent dwelling, as witnessed by the ongoing crisis. Everything with a pulse was buying and selling homes.
Not us. We did not run out and buy another home or refinance. We just continued to pay down our mortgage. [/quote]
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Marital assets are protected from creditors in Florida, as I understand it.
You would be wrong.
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I also heard that in FL the lender has only five years to pursue any deficiency judgment - again, check with your attorney.
Your mileage might vary, isn't that what they say?
They can get a deficiency judgment right after the sale. Good for 20 years.
What do you want them to do? Say it's ok for you to walk? The money you are talking about is my mom's 401K. You want to tell her she has to eat cat food because you don't want to pay back the money you were lent?
Not us. We did not run out and buy another home or refinance. We just continued to pay down our mortgage.
You would be wrong.
They can get a deficiency judgment right after the sale. Good for 20 years.[/quote]
They can, but most likely they won't. Not unless they really think it is worth pursuing. These days the banks are inundated with foreclosures, which is costing them lots of $$$, most will cut their losses after foreclosure unless they think it is really worth spending more $$$ to pursue.
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