[rayschic]

Originally Posted by getdul981

I imagine it's because of the sheer volume of foreclosures that they have. There's probably lots of legal stuff that has to be done on each and every foreclosure and that takes time and manpower.

Agreed. It's usually held up in court proceedings. The bank does not get the title to the home right away so its hands are tied. The bank is owed money but can't do anything with the property because it doesn't own the property.This is a slow process. Once the home goes up for sale, the opening bid is usually the amount owed to the bank, so the bank will usually get its money back. This is very oversimplified but if you want to read more, here's a good explaination of the requirements of foreclosure and things that may hold it up.

Foreclosure - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

Like others, I cannot understand why banks aren't able to move faster on foreclosed properties and short sales. This is nationwide, not just in TV. Why does it take them months and months to act? Aren't they losing money in the meantime? Don't they care about recouping any of their losses?

First of all, not all of these homes are owned by banks. Many times the owners will pass away and the heirs want nothing to do with the homes. In some cases there is no will and it has to go to probate and who knows how long that will take. Sometimes probate will determine that the heirs own the home and the heirs don't want it and go to court to be relieved of it. This process can take a very long time.

If it is a reverse mortgage situation, from what I've been able to gather, the heirs have one year to decide what they want to do with the home. I would think that at that point the banks would have to go to court and start proceedings.

We have a home on our street that was simply abandoned. Now, if the people had a mortgage on it, the bank can start foreclosure proceedings after they have not made their payments for so many months. If there is not mortgage then the house can just simply sit there until I don't know when.

If I'm not mistaken the houses that have the white paper in the windows have been put into foreclosure by the courts. The owners have not made payments for a long time so the bank applies to the court to take ownership. Banks look at this as a last step. Banks don't want to own houses. They would rather work with owners to allow them to keep their homes and make payments to the bank.

So the house has sat there for many months until the bank is allowed to foreclosed. Then they can apply to the courts for foreclosure proceedings. Then the courts have to look into the situation. They try to find the owners or the heirs and find out if something can be worked out. This takes months and possibly years.

Once the court is satisfied, the bank takes ownership of the property and usually hires a real estate agent to try to sell it. There is one for sale on Schwartz ( I forget if it's East or West) that has a "For Sale - Foreclosure" sign on it. I would think that the banks are in more of a hurry to get to this stage than anyone.

[janmcn]

When there is a problem with homes in other locations, such as the grass not being cut, The Villages will send the owner a registered letter telling them of the violation. As soon as that letter is received and signed for, The Villages will hire someone to correct the violation and bill the owner of record.

This happened to my next door neighbor who had hired someone to cut his grass, but pocketed the money and never returned.

Why isn't this same procedure being followed in the historic section and at least keep the outside looking proper?

[rayschic]

Originally Posted by Dr Winston O Boogie jr

First of all, not all of these homes are owned by banks. Many times the owners will pass away and the heirs want nothing to do with the homes. In some cases there is no will and it has to go to probate and who knows how long that will take. Sometimes probate will determine that the heirs own the home and the heirs don't want it and go to court to be relieved of it. This process can take a very long time.

If it is a reverse mortgage situation, from what I've been able to gather, the heirs have one year to decide what they want to do with the home. I would think that at that point the banks would have to go to court and start proceedings.

We have a home on our street that was simply abandoned. Now, if the people had a mortgage on it, the bank can start foreclosure proceedings after they have not made their payments for so many months. If there is not mortgage then the house can just simply sit there until I don't know when.

If I'm not mistaken the houses that have the white paper in the windows have been put into foreclosure by the courts. The owners have not made payments for a long time so the bank applies to the court to take ownership. Banks look at this as a last step. Banks don't want to own houses. They would rather work with owners to allow them to keep their homes and make payments to the bank.

So the house has sat there for many months until the bank is allowed to foreclosed. Then they can apply to the courts for foreclosure proceedings. Then the courts have to look into the situation. They try to find the owners or the heirs and find out if something can be worked out. This takes months and possibly years.

Once the court is satisfied, the bank takes ownership of the property and usually hires a real estate agent to try to sell it. There is one for sale on Schwartz ( I forget if it's East or West) that has a "For Sale - Foreclosure" sign on it. I would think that the banks are in more of a hurry to get to this stage than anyone.

Excellent post. I totally agree.

[queasy27]

Thanks for the explanations, Boogie and rayschic. Makes sense I suppose, especially when the danged legal system is involved. But it's frustrating when people like l2ridehd want to buy these places and fix them but are stymied at every turn.

Anyway. :-)

[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

Originally Posted by janmcn

When there is a problem with homes in other locations, such as the grass not being cut, The Villages will send the owner a registered letter telling them of the violation. As soon as that letter is received and signed for, The Villages will hire someone to correct the violation and bill the owner of record.

This happened to my next door neighbor who had hired someone to cut his grass, but pocketed the money and never returned.

Why isn't this same procedure being followed in the historic section and at least keep the outside looking proper?

My understanding is that the Villages only acts upon complaints in these cases. The Community Watch does not report any violations.

The other issue is that when these homes are abandoned or in limbo, who does the Villages bill for these services? The owners are dead. The bank cannot take ownership and the heirs are denying ownership.

[njbchbum]

Originally Posted by janmcn

When there is a problem with homes in other locations, such as the grass not being cut, The Villages will send the owner a registered letter telling them of the violation. As soon as that letter is received and signed for, The Villages will hire someone to correct the violation and bill the owner of record.

This happened to my next door neighbor who had hired someone to cut his grass, but pocketed the money and never returned.

Why isn't this same procedure being followed in the historic section and at least keep the outside looking proper?

the key word in each of these documents seems to be the work 'may'. nothing requires anyone to do anything! the other issue might be found in your identification of 'other locations'.

the Declaration of Restrictions for my area in the historic district [obg/unit 6 - same as op, i think] indicate:
"2.6 it shall be the responsibility of the owners to keep their lots neat and clean and the grass cut and edged at all times. if an owner does not adhere to this regulation, then the work may be performed on behalf of the owner by the developer and the cost shall be charged to the owner."
and
from the Lady Lake Deed Restriction Matrix and Fine Schedule:
"E) Compliance Mechanisms The Board hereby adopts by this Rule, which includes "Exhibit C", a;; Compliance Mechanisms contained in the Deed Restrictions that apply to the external appearances or uses of Homesites. Such Compliance Mechanisms include but are not limited to:
i) if the owner does not adhere to the Deed Restrictions regarding keeping the Homesite neat and clean and the grass cut and edged then the work may be performed on behalf of the Owner by the Districe, but the District shall not be obligated to perform such work, and the cost shall be charged to the Owner."

[SusanOfWoodbury]

Someone mentioned the owners had died, so these homes may be tied up in court, because of no will

[rayschic]

Originally Posted by SusanOfWoodbury

Someone mentioned the owners had died, so these homes may be tied up in court, because of no will

This thread is a general discussion of the homes that have fallen into disrepair in TV. Everyone is giving examples of what MAY be the case. Some have mentioned reverse mortgages, foreclosure, bankruptcy, death of owners, bank owned, etc. Several people have asked for the addresses of these homes. Directions have been given and people have drove around and could not find the homes in question. I have no doubt that the OP is very concerned about the situation and wants to get something done about it, but without addresses, it is hard for others to help.

[justjim]

Originally Posted by Mack184

While I doubt that this is the case with Citizen's (although it might be) most of the other area banks such as BB&T, Wells, Chase, B of A and so on almost always sell their mortgages to some other "service company" so even if you have obtained a mortgage from a bank with a local branch, it is quite likely that after the "sale" of the mortgage to you, it has been transferred out of their hands, even though you might still make your payment in the name of the bank where you signed your papers. So having a local "door" to go to may very well not get you the result that you seek.

Mack: You are correct many of these mortgages made by the branch banks you mentioned most likely were sold to other institutions. Some of this banks may not make loans for manufactured homes. I understand that Citizens does finance homes in the historical district and does hold the mortgage.

[gocubsgo]

Some of these do not have house numbers. I have given directions as best I can and given street names. I will do it again if necessary.

Jeffery Dr after you come through the gate. there are only 4 houses on that street so it's easy to spot. Right hand side, 2nd house. This one is the one the neighbor's thought squatters were living in for awhile. Next, as you turn right off of Ann on to Mark, the yellow house on the left right as you turn. has white notices in the windows. Kelsea Circle..turn right off of Kelsea Ct. Straight ahead to the blue house with all the old furniture piled under the carport...there are 3-4 notices in the window. 3 houses down from that is the abandoned yellow house where the strong odors are coming out the windows. The guy that cuts the grass uses an electric mower so he has a key to plug it in inside. He told me when he opens the door, he has to wear a mask because of the odor.

When I get time, I will TRY to get house numbers if they exist but I know that many of these do not have numbers anymore. These are just the houses that I pass on the way home everyday.

[njbchbum]

i believe that the house on ann ave [if it is #1024] was sold last fall. i know that i saw a golf cart and car there this past winter. and it seems that they did quite a bit of exterior property maintenance all thru the winter. the exterior of the house was washed at least once and a good deal of the mold was removed; and i believe shrubs were trimmed, too. that lawn is gonna be tough to bring back because of the lack of sunlight that gets thru the trees - that was one of the reasons for the mold on the mark dr side, too.

prop tax records show new owners as residents of mt. dora - and they got a he** of a deal! strange that the tax record shows it owned by fannie mae?

[JB in TV]

Originally Posted by njbchbum

...
prop tax records show new owners as residents of mt. dora - and they got a he** of a deal! strange that the tax record shows it owned by fannie mae?

That PROBABLY means it has been thru foreclosuee, and the bank has called on fannie mae to pay them off...fannie mae insuers a lot of bank loans.

[Biancarose]

We have a home on our block that is being managed by a management company... whenever they feel like coming out. The water is off so there is no lawn, I've complained to everyone and nothing will be done, so much for deed compliance.

[TrudyM]

A house on the street my parents lived on in southern Fla went vacant the owner owned it outright had died and no one new who to notify. The county eventually took it for unpaid taxes but it sat empty for years. The homeowners assn. did the yard and painted the place and filed a lien against the property for the cost. It was the only thing the neighbors could figure to do while the thing sat empty. When it sold at auction the new owners had a surprise when they went to clear title as there was a sizable lean held by the HOA for the monthly maint bills that had gone unpaid.