Apple users alert: Bug strikes iPhones, iPads

 

Apple is warning users that a website link is quickly spreading across social media and text messages that can cause iOS devices to crash.

The link to CrashSafari.com can cause the web browser on an iPhone to go black, forcing users to restart their devices. It can also affect iPads and iPod Touches that use the latest version of iOS. In addition to Apple's native browser by default, Safari, it can also strike through other browsers, such as Google's Chrome or Mozilla's Firefox.

Users may not even know that they've clicked on a bad link. The website recently went viral on social media, and some pranksters use URL shorteners like Bit.ly to hide the corrupted link.

Global News reports that the URL "overloads the browser with a complicated string of code, causing the browser to freeze and ultimately crash."

The site does not contain malware, so it shouldn't create lasting problems on devices, however.
Apple says it's working on a fix. iMore editor-in-chief Rene Ritchie recommends that iOS users long-press on a link to see the full URL before pressing to open it. Those on an Apple device should hover the mouse over the text link to view the full URL before clicking.

Reprint courtesy and copyright the following. Source: "Apple Admits to Safari Problem Causing iPhones to Crash," Forbes.com (Jan. 27, 2016) © Copyright 2016 INFORMATION, INC. Bethesda, MD The original article appeared here: http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/article.cfm?p=4&id=333237

5 Tax Deductions Sellers Won’t Want To Miss

By Laura Agadoni | January 21, 2016

If you relocated because of a job, you may be able to deduct some of your moving expenses.

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5 Tax Deductions Sellers Won’t Want To Miss

By Laura Agadoni | January 21, 2016

If you relocated because of a job, you may be able to deduct some of your moving expenses.

• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  
• 
  

Don't Miss Out

Subscribe for house hunting tips, hot new listings, and real estate must-reads.

- See more at: http://www.trulia.com/blog/5-tax-deductions-sellers-wont-want-miss/?ecampaign=con_cnews_digest&eurl=www.trulia.com%2Fblog%2F5-tax-deductions-sellers-wont-want-miss%2F#sthash.Qbx099Dc.dpuf

Learn which tax benefits you can take advantage of when selling your home.

If you’re like me, you assume the IRS wants as much information about your financial life as possible. And that’s typically true — except when you sell that Atlanta, GA real estate and make a profit of less than $250,000 (or less than $500,000 when you file a joint return with your spouse). If you meet those qualifications, and if you have lived in that home for two of the five years before you sell, the IRS doesn’t want to hear about your home sale, because the profit you make is excluded from being taxed under U.S. Code Section 121. Tell your mom about the sale instead, because, thankfully, the IRS isn’t listening.
As if that weren’t enough, there’s more good news you should know: The IRS grants some tax deductions for home sellers. Getting the deductions requires that you itemize your taxes, admittedly a tedious job, but one that is probably worth your while. Here are five tax deductions you should take this year.
1. Selling costs
If you don’t qualify for the 121 exclusion, you will owe taxes on any profit, so make sure you deduct all your selling costs from your gain. You can deduct the following, according to Nolo:

• Your real estate agent’s commission
• Legal fees
• Title insurance
• Inspection fees
• Advertising costs
• Escrow fees
• Legal fees

And there’s another consideration. Vanessa Borges, an enrolled agent and tax preparation supervisor with the Tax Defense Network, notes, “You might qualify for a partial exclusion if you sell your home due to circumstances involving divorce, change in employment, change in health, or other unforeseen circumstances.”
2. Moving deduction
If you have to sell your house because you’re relocating for work, you might be able to deduct some of your moving expenses, says Chantay Bridges, a licensed senior real estate agent in Los Angeles, CA. Deductions could include transportation costs, travel to the new place, storage costs, and lodging costs.
3. Property tax deduction
“You can deduct your property taxes for the portion of the year that you owned the home,” says Dr. Kimberly R. Goodwin, associate professor of finance and the Parham Bridges Chair of Real Estate at the University of Southern Mississippi. Deduct the taxes “up to, but not including the date of the sale,” according to the IRS. The buyer pays beginning from the sale date.
4. Home improvements
It’s a sad fact that you sometimes need to improve your home — not for your own benefit and enjoyment, but for the home’s future owners. If you make home improvements that help sell your home (like replacing a leaking roof or defunct HVAC system), and if they are made within 90 days of the closing, they are considered selling costs, which are deductible, according to Goodwin.
5. Points
If you paid mortgage points to lower your interest rate when you refinanced your home, you might qualify for an additional deduction, says Bridges. Because you can deduct a proportional share of the points until the loan is paid, when you pay off the loan through a sale, you can “deduct the remaining value of those points,” says Goodwin.
What can’t you deduct?
Tax deductions are fickle. They “can vary from state to state and from year to year,” says Bridges, who suggests that home sellers check with a tax expert to confirm the deductions are still available at the time of the sale.
Taxes can be confusing (Who knew?)
There is also some confusion regarding deductions. Sean P. Storck, a certified financial planner and enrolled agent with Rawdin-Baron Financial in California, explains that many sellers think they can deduct, but can’t. Storck says the biggest misconception concerns repairs, and that “generally speaking, anything done in the course of maintaining property for normal use is nondeductible.”
The same goes for what Storck calls “phantom labor,” in which “you do the work of constructing your home on your own.” Although you may have worked your tail off, you still cannot deduct your sweat equity come selling time.
- See more at: http://www.trulia.com/blog/5-tax-deductions-sellers-wont-want-miss/?ecampaign=con_cnews_digest&eurl=www.trulia.com%2Fblog%2F5-tax-deductions-sellers-wont-want-miss%2F#sthash.Qbx099Dc.dpuf

Learn which tax benefits you can take advantage of when selling your home.

If you’re like me, you assume the IRS wants as much information about your financial life as possible. And that’s typically true — except when you sell [real estate] and make a profit of less than $250,000 (or less than $500,000 when you file a joint return with your spouse). If you meet those qualifications, and if you have lived in that home for two of the five years before you sell, the IRS doesn’t want to hear about your home sale, because the profit you make is excluded from being taxed under U.S. Code Section 121. Tell your mom about the sale instead, because, thankfully, the IRS isn’t listening.

As if that weren’t enough, there’s more good news you should know: The IRS grants some tax deductions for home sellers. Getting the deductions requires that you itemize your taxes, admittedly a tedious job, but one that is probably worth your while. Here are five tax deductions you should take this year.

1. Selling costs

If you don’t qualify for the 121 exclusion, you will owe taxes on any profit, so make sure you deduct all your selling costs from your gain. You can deduct the following, according to Nolo:

• Your real estate agent’s commission
• Legal fees
• Title insurance
• Inspection fees
• Advertising costs
• Escrow fees
• Legal fees

And there’s another consideration. Vanessa Borges, an enrolled agent and tax preparation supervisor with the Tax Defense Network, notes, “You might qualify for a partial exclusion if you sell your home due to circumstances involving divorce, change in employment, change in health, or other unforeseen circumstances.”

2. Moving deduction

If you have to sell your house because you’re relocating for work, you might be able to deduct some of your moving expenses, says Chantay Bridges, a licensed senior real estate agent in Los Angeles, CA. Deductions could include transportation costs, travel to the new place, storage costs, and lodging costs.

3. Property tax deduction

“You can deduct your property taxes for the portion of the year that you owned the home,” says Dr. Kimberly R. Goodwin, associate professor of finance and the Parham Bridges Chair of Real Estate at the University of Southern Mississippi. Deduct the taxes “up to, but not including the date of the sale,” according to the IRS. The buyer pays beginning from the sale date.

4. Home improvements

It’s a sad fact that you sometimes need to improve your home — not for your own benefit and enjoyment, but for the home’s future owners. If you make home improvements that help sell your home (like replacing a leaking roof or defunct HVAC system), and if they are made within 90 days of the closing, they are considered selling costs, which are deductible, according to Goodwin.

5. Points

If you paid mortgage points to lower your interest rate when you refinanced your home, you might qualify for an additional deduction, says Bridges. Because you can deduct a proportional share of the points until the loan is paid, when you pay off the loan through a sale, you can “deduct the remaining value of those points,” says Goodwin.

What can’t you deduct?

Tax deductions are fickle. They “can vary from state to state and from year to year,” says Bridges, who suggests that home sellers check with a tax expert to confirm the deductions are still available at the time of the sale.

Taxes can be confusing (Who knew?)

There is also some confusion regarding deductions. Sean P. Storck, a certified financial planner and enrolled agent with Rawdin-Baron Financial in California, explains that many sellers think they can deduct, but can’t. Storck says the biggest misconception concerns repairs, and that “generally speaking, anything done in the course of maintaining property for normal use is nondeductible.”

The same goes for what Storck calls “phantom labor,” in which “you do the work of constructing your home on your own.” Although you may have worked your tail off, you still cannot deduct your sweat equity come selling time.

Learn which tax benefits you can take advantage of when selling your home.

If you’re like me, you assume the IRS wants as much information about your financial life as possible. And that’s typically true — except when you sell that Atlanta, GA real estate and make a profit of less than $250,000 (or less than $500,000 when you file a joint return with your spouse). If you meet those qualifications, and if you have lived in that home for two of the five years before you sell, the IRS doesn’t want to hear about your home sale, because the profit you make is excluded from being taxed under U.S. Code Section 121. Tell your mom about the sale instead, because, thankfully, the IRS isn’t listening.
As if that weren’t enough, there’s more good news you should know: The IRS grants some tax deductions for home sellers. Getting the deductions requires that you itemize your taxes, admittedly a tedious job, but one that is probably worth your while. Here are five tax deductions you should take this year.
1. Selling costs
If you don’t qualify for the 121 exclusion, you will owe taxes on any profit, so make sure you deduct all your selling costs from your gain. You can deduct the following, according to Nolo:

• Your real estate agent’s commission
• Legal fees
• Title insurance
• Inspection fees
• Advertising costs
• Escrow fees
• Legal fees

And there’s another consideration. Vanessa Borges, an enrolled agent and tax preparation supervisor with the Tax Defense Network, notes, “You might qualify for a partial exclusion if you sell your home due to circumstances involving divorce, change in employment, change in health, or other unforeseen circumstances.”
2. Moving deduction
If you have to sell your house because you’re relocating for work, you might be able to deduct some of your moving expenses, says Chantay Bridges, a licensed senior real estate agent in Los Angeles, CA. Deductions could include transportation costs, travel to the new place, storage costs, and lodging costs.
3. Property tax deduction
“You can deduct your property taxes for the portion of the year that you owned the home,” says Dr. Kimberly R. Goodwin, associate professor of finance and the Parham Bridges Chair of Real Estate at the University of Southern Mississippi. Deduct the taxes “up to, but not including the date of the sale,” according to the IRS. The buyer pays beginning from the sale date.
4. Home improvements
It’s a sad fact that you sometimes need to improve your home — not for your own benefit and enjoyment, but for the home’s future owners. If you make home improvements that help sell your home (like replacing a leaking roof or defunct HVAC system), and if they are made within 90 days of the closing, they are considered selling costs, which are deductible, according to Goodwin.
5. Points
If you paid mortgage points to lower your interest rate when you refinanced your home, you might qualify for an additional deduction, says Bridges. Because you can deduct a proportional share of the points until the loan is paid, when you pay off the loan through a sale, you can “deduct the remaining value of those points,” says Goodwin.
What can’t you deduct?
Tax deductions are fickle. They “can vary from state to state and from year to year,” says Bridges, who suggests that home sellers check with a tax expert to confirm the deductions are still available at the time of the sale.
Taxes can be confusing (Who knew?)
There is also some confusion regarding deductions. Sean P. Storck, a certified financial planner and enrolled agent with Rawdin-Baron Financial in California, explains that many sellers think they can deduct, but can’t. Storck says the biggest misconception concerns repairs, and that “generally speaking, anything done in the course of maintaining property for normal use is nondeductible.”
The same goes for what Storck calls “phantom labor,” in which “you do the work of constructing your home on your own.” Although you may have worked your tail off, you still cannot deduct your sweat equity come selling time.
- See more at: http://www.trulia.com/blog/5-tax-deductions-sellers-wont-want-miss/?ecampaign=con_cnews_digest&eurl=www.trulia.com%2Fblog%2F5-tax-deductions-sellers-wont-want-miss%2F#sthash.Qbx099Dc.dpuf

Learn which tax benefits you can take advantage of when selling your home.

If you’re like me, you assume the IRS wants as much information about your financial life as possible. And that’s typically true — except when you sell that Atlanta, GA real estate and make a profit of less than $250,000 (or less than $500,000 when you file a joint return with your spouse). If you meet those qualifications, and if you have lived in that home for two of the five years before you sell, the IRS doesn’t want to hear about your home sale, because the profit you make is excluded from being taxed under U.S. Code Section 121. Tell your mom about the sale instead, because, thankfully, the IRS isn’t listening.
As if that weren’t enough, there’s more good news you should know: The IRS grants some tax deductions for home sellers. Getting the deductions requires that you itemize your taxes, admittedly a tedious job, but one that is probably worth your while. Here are five tax deductions you should take this year.
1. Selling costs
If you don’t qualify for the 121 exclusion, you will owe taxes on any profit, so make sure you deduct all your selling costs from your gain. You can deduct the following, according to Nolo:

• Your real estate agent’s commission
• Legal fees
• Title insurance
• Inspection fees
• Advertising costs
• Escrow fees
• Legal fees

And there’s another consideration. Vanessa Borges, an enrolled agent and tax preparation supervisor with the Tax Defense Network, notes, “You might qualify for a partial exclusion if you sell your home due to circumstances involving divorce, change in employment, change in health, or other unforeseen circumstances.”
2. Moving deduction
If you have to sell your house because you’re relocating for work, you might be able to deduct some of your moving expenses, says Chantay Bridges, a licensed senior real estate agent in Los Angeles, CA. Deductions could include transportation costs, travel to the new place, storage costs, and lodging costs.
3. Property tax deduction
“You can deduct your property taxes for the portion of the year that you owned the home,” says Dr. Kimberly R. Goodwin, associate professor of finance and the Parham Bridges Chair of Real Estate at the University of Southern Mississippi. Deduct the taxes “up to, but not including the date of the sale,” according to the IRS. The buyer pays beginning from the sale date.
4. Home improvements
It’s a sad fact that you sometimes need to improve your home — not for your own benefit and enjoyment, but for the home’s future owners. If you make home improvements that help sell your home (like replacing a leaking roof or defunct HVAC system), and if they are made within 90 days of the closing, they are considered selling costs, which are deductible, according to Goodwin.
5. Points
If you paid mortgage points to lower your interest rate when you refinanced your home, you might qualify for an additional deduction, says Bridges. Because you can deduct a proportional share of the points until the loan is paid, when you pay off the loan through a sale, you can “deduct the remaining value of those points,” says Goodwin.
What can’t you deduct?
Tax deductions are fickle. They “can vary from state to state and from year to year,” says Bridges, who suggests that home sellers check with a tax expert to confirm the deductions are still available at the time of the sale.
Taxes can be confusing (Who knew?)
There is also some confusion regarding deductions. Sean P. Storck, a certified financial planner and enrolled agent with Rawdin-Baron Financial in California, explains that many sellers think they can deduct, but can’t. Storck says the biggest misconception concerns repairs, and that “generally speaking, anything done in the course of maintaining property for normal use is nondeductible.”
The same goes for what Storck calls “phantom labor,” in which “you do the work of constructing your home on your own.” Although you may have worked your tail off, you still cannot deduct your sweat equity come selling time.
- See more at: http://www.trulia.com/blog/5-tax-deductions-sellers-wont-want-miss/?ecampaign=con_cnews_digest&eurl=www.trulia.com%2Fblog%2F5-tax-deductions-sellers-wont-want-miss%2F#sthash.Qbx099Dc.d

Learn which tax benefits you can take advantage of when selling your home.

If you’re like me, you assume the IRS wants as much information about your financial life as possible. And that’s typically true — except when you sell that Atlanta, GA real estate and make a profit of less than $250,000 (or less than $500,000 when you file a joint return with your spouse). If you meet those qualifications, and if you have lived in that home for two of the five years before you sell, the IRS doesn’t want to hear about your home sale, because the profit you make is excluded from being taxed under U.S. Code Section 121. Tell your mom about the sale instead, because, thankfully, the IRS isn’t listening.
As if that weren’t enough, there’s more good news you should know: The IRS grants some tax deductions for home sellers. Getting the deductions requires that you itemize your taxes, admittedly a tedious job, but one that is probably worth your while. Here are five tax deductions you should take this year.
1. Selling costs
If you don’t qualify for the 121 exclusion, you will owe taxes on any profit, so make sure you deduct all your selling costs from your gain. You can deduct the following, according to Nolo:

• Your real estate agent’s commission
• Legal fees
• Title insurance
• Inspection fees
• Advertising costs
• Escrow fees
• Legal fees

And there’s another consideration. Vanessa Borges, an enrolled agent and tax preparation supervisor with the Tax Defense Network, notes, “You might qualify for a partial exclusion if you sell your home due to circumstances involving divorce, change in employment, change in health, or other unforeseen circumstances.”
2. Moving deduction
If you have to sell your house because you’re relocating for work, you might be able to deduct some of your moving expenses, says Chantay Bridges, a licensed senior real estate agent in Los Angeles, CA. Deductions could include transportation costs, travel to the new place, storage costs, and lodging costs.
3. Property tax deduction
“You can deduct your property taxes for the portion of the year that you owned the home,” says Dr. Kimberly R. Goodwin, associate professor of finance and the Parham Bridges Chair of Real Estate at the University of Southern Mississippi. Deduct the taxes “up to, but not including the date of the sale,” according to the IRS. The buyer pays beginning from the sale date.
4. Home improvements
It’s a sad fact that you sometimes need to improve your home — not for your own benefit and enjoyment, but for the home’s future owners. If you make home improvements that help sell your home (like replacing a leaking roof or defunct HVAC system), and if they are made within 90 days of the closing, they are considered selling costs, which are deductible, according to Goodwin.
5. Points
If you paid mortgage points to lower your interest rate when you refinanced your home, you might qualify for an additional deduction, says Bridges. Because you can deduct a proportional share of the points until the loan is paid, when you pay off the loan through a sale, you can “deduct the remaining value of those points,” says Goodwin.
What can’t you deduct?
Tax deductions are fickle. They “can vary from state to state and from year to year,” says Bridges, who suggests that home sellers check with a tax expert to confirm the deductions are still available at the time of the sale.
Taxes can be confusing (Who knew?)
There is also some confusion regarding deductions. Sean P. Storck, a certified financial planner and enrolled agent with Rawdin-Baron Financial in California, explains that many sellers think they can deduct, but can’t. Storck says the biggest misconception concerns repairs, and that “generally speaking, anything done in the course of maintaining property for normal use is nondeductible.”
The same goes for what Storck calls “phantom labor,” in which “you do the work of constructing your home on your own.” Although you may have worked your tail off, you still cannot deduct your sweat equity come selling time.
- See more at: http://www.trulia.com/blog/5-tax-deductions-sellers-wont-want-miss/?ecampaign=con_cnews_digest&eurl=www.trulia.com%2Fblog%2F5-tax-deductions-sellers-wont-want-miss%2F#sthash.Qbx099Dc.dpuf

Repost courtesy of Trulia and author Laura Agadoni. Original post appeared here: http://www.trulia.com/blog/5-tax-deductions-sellers-wont-want-miss/?ecampaign=con_cnews_digest&eurl=www.trulia.com%2Fblog%2F5-tax-deductions-sellers-wont-want-miss%2F

Forged deeds lead to stolen homes, broken hearts in South Florida 

The house in Northwest Hialeah belonged to the Cleland family since the mid-1950s.
Linda Cleland, an only child, watched her mother plant a pine sapling that grew to tower over the home in the front yard. Eventually, her parents aged there, fell ill and died years apart. Cleland’s two dogs are buried in the home’s yard.

The house remained hers — until an April day when police suddenly came to evict Cleland, leaving her homeless while fighting to get her property back.

“My house was stolen from me. I couldn’t believe it was happening,” said Cleland, 60. “All my property was put in bags and tossed outside like garbage.”

In a scam that authorities say has proliferated in recent years, Cleland fell victim to swindlers who used bogus quitclaim deeds to secretly strip her of the property, then sold the home to a Pembroke Pines investment firm.

Spurred by cases like Cleland’s, the Miami-Dade Inspector General’s Office and prosecutors in recent weeks have begun meeting with the clerk of courts to figure out new procedures aimed at curbing quitclaim deed fraud.

“It’s just too easy to steal somebody’s property by filing a fraudulent quitclaim deed,” Miami-Dade Inspector General Mary Cagle told the Miami Herald and news partner WFOR-CBS4.

For seven months, Cleland lived on the streets, occasionally crashing with friends, usually sleeping in a grassy area outside the nearby Palm Springs Methodist Church. This week, with help from Legal Services of Greater Miami, a civil judge ordered Cleland be allowed to return to the three-bedroom home.

“She had been feeling hopeless, but I definitively saw a sense of relief. She was stoic,” said Legal Services attorney Lissette Labrousse.

OIG investigators are still probing Cleland's case and no arrests have been made.

A quitclaim deed allows a property owner to quickly transfer it to someone else. The document must be notarized and can be filed to the clerk of courts in person, via mail or through the Internet.

Investigators with the OIG believe the swindlers scour neighborhoods looking for abandoned or dilapidated homes in which the owners appear to have died. Fake quitclaim deeds are filed transferring ownership of the homes to “straw buyers,” who turn around and sell the homes.

Exactly how many fraudulent quitclaim deeds are filed with the clerk’s office is unknown, authorities say, but there are so many that police cannot come close to investigating them all.

“These scammers are usually very clever people who try and get around what you do,” said Miami-Dade Clerk of Courts Harvey Ruvin. “We’re trying to stay a step ahead of them.”
Some of the remedies being considered: photocopying IDs of people who file quitclaim deeds in person, retaining clerk of courts security footage for longer periods of time and creating a complaint hotline at the state attorney’s office.

At least one major prosecution of a suspected quitclaim deed scammer is under way. The chief suspect is Yohany Garcia, 38.

Prosecutors in 2012 accused her and a group of others of bilking prospective home buyers out of over $2 million. Garcia and others claimed they could sell people homes that were to be auctioned for simply the price of delinquent taxes, according to the state.

While awaiting trial in that case, prosecutors said, Garcia this year tried to use two homes as collateral to help her bail out of jail.

But according to an arrest warrant, OIG investigator Juan Koop found that both homes had been stolen using fake quitclaim deeds. The real owners had died and the properties had languished in the hands of relatives.

Her defense attorney, Scott Sakin, said prosecutors do not “have a lot of evidence connecting her to wrongdoing.”

“They don’t have her going to the recorder’s office to file false documents,” Sakin said. “There is nothing connecting her to the case except people who don’t like her and cut a deal. It’s a typical snitch case.”

This type of forgery is not necessarily new either.

One decade ago, the Inspector General’s office arrested two people for using bogus quitclaim deeds to steal and sell homes of dead or sickly people. In response, the clerk of courts began automatically sending letters to the last person who paid the tax bill, notifying them that a quitclaim deed had been filed on their property.

Ruvin believes the letters have helped thwart some swindlers — in October alone, the clerk’s office sent 1,507 quitclaim deed notifications. But investigators believe some of the crooks actually retrieve the letters from mailboxes.

At least one letter made it into Cleland’s hands, but only because she happened to check her mail just as the mailman was delivering it to her box. Cleland wrote a letter to the court declaring she had been the victim of fraud – but a judge nonetheless ordered she be evicted from her home.

Exactly why and how Cleland’s house was targeted is unclear.

But in March 2014, someone filed a bogus quitclaim deed purporting to be from Linda Cleland transferring the property into the name of her mother, Louise Cleland. “My mother had been dead, at that time, for close to 11 years,” Linda Cleland said.

The form was supposedly witnessed by a notary named Kent Taylor — someone who does not exist.
The next month, a second sham quitclaim deed sent the property from Louise Cleland to a company called JSM Construccion Corp, an entity started by a handyman named Julio S. Morales.

By July 2014, Morales had sold the house for $100,000 to Stark Equity Group, of Pembroke Pines, which has no idea the property had been stolen. The company eventually had her evicted in April.
A judge on Monday ordered the eviction order be vacated. The legal fight is not over. Cleland’s lawyer will now ask a circuit court to return the title of the home to her. Stark Equity’s lawyer did not return a call for comment.

“These criminals are heartless. What they do is they prey upon the most vulnerable, the ones who are almost going to be homeless, the elderly,” Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle told Natalia Zea of WFOR-CBS4. “We also know there are probably many other victims out there and we want to make sure they reach out to us so we can take action quickly.”

Reprint and Copyright Courtesy of Miami Herald - By David Ovalle dovalle@miamiherald.com. Original article appeared here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article47675590.html#emlnl=5-Minute_Herald

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article47675590.html#emlnl=5-Minute_Herald#storylink=cpy

Reprint

HUD eases FHA condo financing rules

 

Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary Ed Golding announced changes to FHA condominium policies last night at the National Association of Realtors^® (NAR) convention in San Diego.

Effective immediately, FHA will streamline the condominium recertification process and expand its definition of acceptable "owner-occupied" units to include second homes not owned by investors. The provisions expire in one year "until the agency can implement a more comprehensive condominium rule change."

The change should qualify more condo complexes for FHA loans. That, in turn, will give more buyers access to FHA low-downpayment mortgages.

The new rule:

1. Modifies the requirements for condominium project recertification
2. Revises the calculation of FHA's required owner-occupancy percentage
3. Expands eligible condominium project insurance coverages

Florida homebuyers, perhaps more than any other state, will benefit from FHA's new rule.
"This is going to be an amazing stimulus to the housing market for the first-time homeowner and entry-level housing buyer," says Frank Kowalski, president of Florida Realtors in 2005 and an insurance agent. "It's a catalyst for change and long overdue. Thousands of contracts could not use FHA financing, and buyers were forced to come up with 25 – even 30 percent downpayments."
Kowalski says FHA's rule change should help more than just first-time buyers, however. Condo financing problems also frustrated the move-up market – condo owners who want to make the move to single-family housing.

"It's difficult to sell an existing unit if you can't find a qualified buyer," Kowalski says. "A lot of people are frozen in place: Those in (a condo unit) can't get out; those out can't get in."

According to Golding, the just-announced FHA changes are in line with ones requested by NAR, which has been an advocate for reform. NAR cited problems with a lengthy and complex recertification process, burdensome owner-occupancy requirements, and the limits on acceptable property insurance.

One major benefit for Florida condo owners: the property insurance rule change. FHA will now accept Citizens Property Insurance coverage – the Florida-owned company and largest condo insurer in the state.

In addition, FHA changed the way it will view co-insurance clauses, which exist with most Florida condos. That change alone will help up to 85 percent of Florida's condo associations, according to Danielle Blake, the Miami Association of Realtors' government affairs director and a long-time advocate for FHA change.

According to Golding, insurance and recertification changes will take place immediately. Policy changes related to owner occupancy, commercial space percentage, FHA concentration and spot approvals would be addressed through formal rulemaking in the near future.

"Condos are often the most affordable option for homebuyers, especially first-time buyers, and making sure FHA financing is an option is important to supporting homeownership," says 2015 NAR President Chris Polychron.

HUD provides an overview of all changes in Mortgagee Letter 2015-27, which is posted online.
Aritcle reprint courtesy of and © 2015 Florida Realtors®  Original post appears here: http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/article.cfm?p=1&id=330467

3 Credit Repair Scams to Avoid

Freddie Mac warns buyers of 3 credit scams

 

Freddie Mac issued a warning for homebuyers about scams that entice them by promising to raise their credit score in exchange for money.

"Who doesn't want the highest credit score possible to garner the most-favored terms?" Freddie Mac notes on its website. "For many Americans with consumer credit negatively impacted by the housing crisis and fluctuating economy, it's easy to be lured by the promise of a raised credit score," Freddie Mac says. "Schemes that falsely raise credit scores will land borrowers in scalding hot water – as well as cost you time and money combating both origination- and servicing-related fraud."

Freddie Mac highlighted three types of common fraud schemes to raise credit scores:

1. Disputing credit with credit bureaus
A new program with FICO – called FICO Score Open Access for Credit & Financial Counseling – was created to help borrowers who have credit management problems by providing FICO Scores along with credit education material to help consumers understand credit scoring and learn more about financial management. However, some fraudsters are using the program in a scam.

"(Scammers) may direct a borrower to contact credit repositories repeatedly to dispute previously defaulted debt," Freddie Mac warns. "The fraudster hopes the creditor will miss responding to one of the disputes and the defaulted debt will disappear temporarily, triggering a jump in the borrower's credit score. The borrower may qualify for – and close on – a new mortgage before the credit report correctly reflects the defaulted debt and the borrower's true credit score."

2. Claiming identity theft falsely
Some companies encourage buyers to falsely claim identity theft on their loan application in order to have debt removed from their credit report.

"Some borrowers who falsely claimed identify theft have gone as far as providing affidavits of identity theft and police reports," Freddie Mac writes. "Of course, lenders take these claims seriously and investigate. In some instances, they discover that the 'police report' is fake, never actually filed, or from a police department that doesn't exist."

3. Misusing credit protection numbers
Using a credit privacy number – an alternative for a Social Security number most commonly used by celebrities and politicians to hide previous credit issues – can be a dangerous move.

"Some consumers with poor credit acquire a CPN with the intent of creating a new, clean – and misleading – credit profile," Freddie Mac notes. "CPNs were not created for this purpose, and mortgage loans originated using a CPN are ineligible for sale to Freddie Mac. Borrowers who use a CPN with the hope of leaving their bad credit histories in the rear view mirror are in for a rude awakening."

As the Federal Trade Commission bluntly points out, "By using a stolen number as your own, the con artists have involved you in identity theft,' for which you may face legal trouble."

Source: "Freddie Mac Issues Credit-Scam Warning to Potential Home Owners," HousingWire (Nov. 6, 2015)

Repost courtesy of and © Copyright 2015 INFORMATION, INC. Bethesda, MD (301) 215-4688. Original article appeared here: http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/article.cfm?p=1&id=330299

Live in Miami and Work in Orlando? Yes, It's Possible

Passenger train to quickly link Miami and Orlando

 

A privately owned and operated passenger rail service is on track to begin connecting travelers in four major Florida cities by mid-2017.

Today, All Aboard Florida is slated to reveal that the new express inter-city train travel service, which will cost more than $3 billion to build, will be called the Brightline.

Brightline trains will connect Miami, Fort Lauderdale, West Palm Beach and Orlando along a 235-mile route. The stretch from Miami to Orlando will last three hours, comparable to what it takes to get to the airport, go through security and fly, developers say.

The trains, designed by the Rockwell Group, are being built in Sacramento by Siemens. Construction has begun on stations in Miami, Fort Lauderdale and West Palm Beach, and on connecting urban centers that developers hope will become dining and shopping destinations. Another station will be next to Orlando International Airport.

All Aboard Florida is a wholly owned subsidiary of Florida East Coast Industries, which is involved in a range of infrastructure, transportation and real estate businesses. The project is being funded by private investors through the issuance of $1.75 billion in tax-exempt bonds and directly from the parent company. The company expects to become profitable in the first couple of years as it adds more trains and ridership increases.

All Aboard Florida and tourism officials say the trains and their stations could transform travel throughout Florida, one of the country's most populous states. Providing trains as an alternative could ease congestion on the roads and alleviate pressure on crowded airports.

"Half of our business is international," says William Talbert, president and CEO of the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau. "To connect Miami and those other three communities by train makes it convenient, affordable, clean and safe to travel. It gives the visitor options that we haven't had before."

Not everyone is on board with the new train service, however. Citizens Against Rail Expansion, a coalition of residents and community leaders in South Florida, argues that the rail system will compromise public safety. A number of hospitals along the route are on one side of the tracks while first responders are on the other, says Stephen Ryan, an attorney representing CARE.

What is now a single-track system will likely change to a double-track at various points along the way, which will pose a danger for school buses trying to cross over, Ryan says. The number of freight trains will also increase, he says. Another reason for concern that the group has brought up: It will harm the maritime industry because it will increase wait times at drawbridges that the train will cross. All that will result in a drop in property values, which will impact tax rolls, he says.

The group also questions All Aboard Florida's insistence that the project is fully privately funded. The use of tax-exempt bonds, Ryan says, is essentially a federal subsidy.

"There are profound issues for the local economy," he says.

All Aboard Florida says that no federal government entity will have exposure to the investment, and that train travel is needed to improve the quality of life.

Trains were the primary mode of transportation in the USA until after World War II, when cars and airlines took over the roads and skies. Federally funded Amtrak has remained the predominant interstate passenger train system, but it does not offer the kind of high-speed service found in Europe and Asia.

The closest thing the USA has to high-speed trains is Amtrak's Acela on the northeast corridor, which can go as fast as 150 mph. Brightline trains will not be high-speed, but its express service will be able to go up to 125 mph.

High-speed rail "takes more money and fully dedicated track and electrification," says Andy Kunz, president and CEO of the U.S. High Speed Rail Association.

There's been a recent resurgence in interest in trains, particularly among younger travelers, says Jim Wallington, a train expert at America by Rail, which promotes train travel. "This younger generation is less car prone," he says. "They are not buying cars like we used to, and they are demanding that there be alternate transportation."

President Obama's 2009 stimulus bill proposed billions of dollars in funding to create a true high-speed rail system across the nation. His efforts have stalled amid political opposition.

Privately led efforts are underway to create high-speed rail systems in Texas and between Las Vegas and Los Angeles. A publicly led high-speed rail system is under construction in California. That will eventually connect Los Angeles and San Francisco in less than three hours.

Reprint Courtesy of and Copyright 2014, USATODAY.com, USA TODAY, Nancy Trejos. Original post appeared here: http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/article.cfm?p=4&id=330245

Burgers, buildings and more coming to Boca Raton soon

Boca Raton is nearly out of land, so developers are building on small parcels, or redoing existing properties, to make way for new homes and shops.

One shopping center under construction now is Park Place by Schmier & Feurring Properties on Military Trail, south of Clint Moore Road and Office Depot’s world headquarters.

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Park Place shopping center, under construction in Boca Raton. (Provided) 

 

In addition to a Fresh Market grocery store, Park Place will host a cornucopia of restaurants, too.
So far they include a new location of the Habit Burger chain, another Chipotle location and a new player in the South Florida dining market, Burton’s Grill, a modern American concept from Boston.
Also coming: a new location for Raw Juice, the growing Boca Raton-based fresh juice and vegan food eatery, and Phenomenon, a nitrogen-based ice cream concept. Restaurateur Burt Rapoport also plans Rappy’s Deli, which is billed as a modern spin on the classic Jewish deli.

Shops also are planned for the 64,000-square-foot center, which will open in 2016 and be built in an elegant, contemporary design “with unbelievable areas and energy for customers,” said Ross Feurring, the project’s director of leasing.

“There’s no new development in Boca Raton, so if you want to get in this market, this is one of the only opportunities,” Feurring said.

He’s right. Boca Raton has its longstanding clusters of commerce, such as the Town Center mall in the city’s center, and the mixed-use Mizner Park downtown.

But increasingly, developers are snapping up smaller pieces of land, or redoing existing buildings, to make way for new stores, condos or apartments.

“Boca Raton is developed to a large extent, and now it’s ripe for redevelopment and infill,” said Nader Salour, of Cypress Realty, based in Jupiter.

The 64,000-square-foot Park Place, for instance, sits on just 16 acres. To its south is a vacant 10-acre parcel, now under construction for 298 apartments by Altman Development Corp.

Meanwhile, Salour is working on a mixed-use project also planned for Military Trail near the mall. He and partners own a 10-acre site. On it sits an old bowling alley, now doing business as Strikes@Boca bowling alley, and nearby, a shuttered Scandinavian gym.

Salour is seeking the city’s OK to build 200 apartments and 65,000 square feet of retail space. “It’s a prime location surrounded by very attractive buildings,” including office buildings, Salour said.
Salour said the high-end apartments he plans to build will fill a need for people who now commute into Boca Raton to work because there aren’t enough rental projects in the city.

Several properties around the Town Center mall also are undergoing a renaissance.

Across from Salour’s property sits Boca Center, an office, shopping, dining and hotel complex also slated for a redevelopment. 

Developer Tom Crocker last year reacquired this center, which he originally built. Now he plans a massive upgrade. A high-end gym, new restaurants and development along Military Trail (now home to a parking lot) all are in the works. The idea is to turn the Boca Center into a luxury food and entertainment mecca.

Boca Center’s proximity to the Town Center mall, in the heart of the city, makes it prime property for restaurants eager to do business in the city, said Tom Prakas, of Prakas & Co. in Boca Raton. Prakas is handling leasing for the center.

Crocker also plans to create a “restaurant row” along Butts Road, on property he owns next to his Wells Fargo office building, Prakas said.

In addition, Crocker is looking to add a restaurant to another of his Boca Raton office properties: One Town Center, a Class A, 10-story office building that once was home to Tyco’s headquarters. Plans are to create a 5,000-square-foot restaurant downstairs, with patio space outside along Town Center Road.

Boca Raton’s building boom is no surprise to longtime real estate professional Keith O’Donnell, a principal with Avison Young in Boca Raton.

The city’s ranking on Livability’s 100 Best Places to Live means a renewed interest in adding to the city’s offerings of homes, shops and offices. Boca Raton was ranked 59th, based on an analysis of each cities’ amenities, economy, education, health care and other factors.

O’Donnell said activity in the city is divided among the eastern section of the city, where the downtown is seeing the construction of mixed-use projects, apartments and condos; the central portion of the city, around the mall; and the northwest section in and around the Arvida Park of Commerce, traditionally home to headquarters and research companies. A number of mixed-use projects also are planned there, he said.

Some 20 years ago, the thought of residential housing in the city’s largely ghost-townlike downtown was unthinkable. Now, however, several projects are in the works or underway, including Palmetto Promenade’s apartments and shops along Palmetto Park Road.

“Downtown is seeing a vibrancy it hasn’t seen in the residential sector,” O’Donnell said, “which will drive more retail demand.”

Reprint courtesy and copyright by Palm Beach Post and author By Alexandra Clough - Palm Beach Post Staff Writer. Alexandra Clough writes about the economy, real estate and the law. Original post here: http://www.mypalmbeachpost.com/news/business/burgers-buildings-and-more-coming-to-boca-raton-so/npCTB/