Abandoned properties could worsen the hurricane season - South Florida Business Journal:

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More than 101,000 residences in South Florida sat emptuy for three months or more as of according tothe . Many of these likely were in the process of foreclosure or the assetsof cash-strappexd developers. In the event of a hurricanwe warning, many experts doubt most lenders woulr have the coordination and capability to fortify those homes with shuttereor boards. Since banks almost never respond to homeowner associationm complaints about poor conditions atabandoned bank-ownerd properties, they probably won’rt be proactive in protecting these properties from a said Ken Direktor, an attorney at Fort Lauderdale-basefd who represents numerous homeowner Most banks and mortgage-servicing companies are overwhelmed with and can’t effectively manage them all, he “I would be shocked if banks mobilize in frongt of a storm,” Direktor “A hurricane now would be absolutely The negative effect on the community would be multipliedx exponentially.
” Bill Hardin, director of real estate programs at , said foreclosuresz held by mortgage-backed securities would be must vulnerable. He doubts that most MBS servicing companies have the capabilitiesd to mitigate property losses beforea hurricane. If there’d a pending foreclosure on a home and thebank hasn’tr taken possession of it, then the lender can’t legallyu enter the property and secure it. A homeownerr or renter still living there mighf protect the home fortheir safety, but an abandonerd home facing foreclosure would be less likely to have a guardian.
Some condo associations have the abilityu to enter abandoned homes andsecure them, but homeowne r associations do not, said Donna executive director of the Plantation-based . has a plan for hurricane s that includes contracts with property management companie s and bank employees to make sure propertieszare storm-ready, said Nancy Norris, a spokeswoman for the bank, whic also services mortgages for other lenders. “When there is a threat, we have a businese resiliencyteam that’s always on top of emergency situations,” she said.
“We are confideny that we will get the job When a homeowner stops paying a mortgage and or when a propertybecomes bank-owned, the lender covers the property througu a blanket insurance policy callef forced coverage. These expensive policies covefr the outstandingmortgage amount, regardlesas of the value of the property. These policies usually don’t require the bank to do anythinvg to protect a property from storm saidWilliam Berk, an attorney who representsd insurance companies as a partner with Coral Gables-bases .
But, the aftermath of a hurricane could provide opportunities for savvy investors to buy damaged home s from banks onthe cheap, repair them and reselkl them, said Peter Zalewski, CEO of Bal Harbour-basesd . “I can’t imagine a lender repairing a propertu damaged by a hurricane before selling he said. “For a neighborhood, it could be a and for investors, it could be a great opportunity.” THE Nobody’s home Palm Beach County: 36,348 or 5.3 percent Broware County: 37,707 residences, or 4.6 percent Miami-Dades County: 27,700 residences, or 2.9 percent Source: U.S.
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