As you know the Florida Legislature is currently in session. Well there a lot of bills flying around the house and the senate. Two of the big things I wanted to keep you informed about is the House bill HB 905 and the Senate bill SB 1906. which are designed to place a revenue cap on local governments. At the same time there is a citizens initiative effort operating as "Your Dollar, Your Decision" and it is being spearheaded by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) If the House and Senate do not act this session the grass roots effort will move to get 68,000 signatures on a petition. For further information go to:
www.yourdollaryourdecision.com

The second effort has focued on the Save Our Homes recapture provision.
When faced with the question of what annual increase in assessed value to apply to homes assessed at less than just value, the Florida Department of Revenue generated a rule that provides that the annual increse will be lesser of three percent or CPI. Rule 12D-8.00622, Florida Adminstratyive Code, appliesthis assessment increase even when home prices are declining, as long as the home remains assessed at less than just value. This issue has generated several pieces of legislation for the 2009 session, including SB 304 & 464, and HB 1173.

The U.S. House approved legislation on Thursday that will allow bankruptcy judges to lengthen terms, cut interest rates and reduce the principal owed by bankrupt borrowers.

The so-called "cramdown" bill (the actual name of the bill is the "Helping Families Save Their Home Act") passed by a margin of 234-191. The legislation was modified to become more lender friendly; it requires borrowers to certify that they provided their lenders with financial information and gave them time to provide other alternatives.

Borrowers receiving a cramdown must reimburse their lender for a portion of the loss if they sell the property before they complete a five-year bankruptcy repayment plan.

House Republican Leader John Boehner of Ohio, who opposed the legislation, says it forces those who acted responsibly to �€œsubsidize scam artists, speculators and those who knowingly made bad decisions.�€�

The bill also permanently increases the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.�€™s insurance on bank deposits to $250,000, gives loan servicers legal protection when they modify troubled loans, and retools the Hope for Homeowners lending program, which has so far been a failure.

The Senate is expected to consider a version of the bill as early as next week.

Source: Bloomberg, Dawn Kopecki (03/06/2009)

I wanted to let anyone who is a first time home-buyer or if you know someone who might be considering the purchase of a home or haven't owned a home for the last two years that they only have until December 31, 2009 to take advantage of this government offer. Every home-buyer has unique circumstances, however and specific questions. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) has launched a consumer Web site with detailed information and an extensive list of frequently-asked questions. The home-buyer resource is found at:
www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com
TAKEN FROM FAR Early Bird 2/18/2009

Welcome to my website blog. I will post information on what I see is real estate news which people might be interested it. I�€™ll try to keep you current and post comments on a weekly basis. Please feel free to reply to my comments and ask questions if you want to get information about anything pertinent to the real estate market.
I have to say I am pleasantly surprised at the number of buyers who are in the area. We are clearly seeing an increase in home being purchased during the last two months.
Many of you are hearing that the banks aren't lending money, well I'm here to tell you they are giving loans to qualified people. In my office we have a bank representative sitting in our office three days a week and he is available by phone at any other times we need him. Fixed rate mortgages are very favorable at the present time.
If you are thinking about purchasing a new home, let me know and I'll put you in touch with our bank mortgage representative.
I plan to do another posting this week to get the blog going. I hope you will find the information I post to be informative and helpful.