Real Estate Kerfuffle in Key West

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Real Estate Kerfuffle in Key West

Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009 | Economics |

Note to All Key West Realtors Who Say “The Bottom Is Here” . . . Get Ready For The Next Big Drop In Prices As DEBT Becomes The Ultimate 4 Letter Word:

(While I’m on this topic, I personally know three people in Key West who are or were basically “squatting” in their homes, not paying their mortgages. One of these guys, a bartender who was given $700,000 Option ARM from Washington Mutual via a local mortgage broker chop shop is living in a place which will now not even fetch $200,000. He hasn’t made a payment to Countrywide and its successor in over one year.

Another of the guys, a real sharp college graduate and manager of a local eatery, just finished his “squatting” in his former house. He told me his bank told him they would not negotiate a short sale unless he couldn’t afford to pay his mortgage any longer. So he quit paying his mortgage, and sure enough, three months after he did, the bank started negotiating a short sale.

The third “squatter” is a Realtor/Investor I know. He hasn’t made a payment in over a year on his mortgage. He’s got a real sharp Boca Raton lawyer who is fighting the bank which claims ownership to his mortgage and house. This new bank cannot produce the original paperwork on the loan he originally received from Countrywide. In essence, no one knows if this bank really owns the mortgage.)

That blogger’s story starts by explaining that for the second time in as many years the banks foreclosed on his Key West rental condo because the landlord had quit paying the mortgage. It’s crazy out there.

Tags: hfs, mortgage mess