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84 Florida RANK: 4 90+ Day Foreclosure Unemployment Delinquency Rate Rate Rate JULY 2015 2.28% 2.85% 5.3 YEAR AGO 2.91% 4.77% 5.9 YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -21.5% -40.3% -0.6 Top County WASHINGTON COUNTY 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate JULY 2015 2.37% 5.99% YEAR AGO 3.22% 8.91% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -26.5% -32.9% Top Core-Based Statistical Area ARCADIA, FL 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate JULY 2015 3.04% 5.69% YEAR AGO 3.35% 7.91% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -9.4% -28.0% note: The 90+ day delinquecy rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans that are seriously delinquent. The foreclosure rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans currently in foreclosure. State rank is based on the July 2015 foreclosure rate. All figures are rounded to the nearest decimal. The unemployment rate reflects preliminary July 2015 figures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. All other data courtesy of LPS Data & Analytics. MEMBER Adriana M Montes, MBA Juris Doctor Candidate Owner, Real Estate Broker REO, Short Sale, Property Management & Acquisitions Director, Luxury Home Specialist, Multimillion Dollar Producer » Awarded #17 with 203 home sales in 2014 of Top 250 Latino Real Estate Agents in US! » Awarded #17 with 220 home sales in 2013 of Top 250 Latino Real Estate Agents in US! » Awarded #16 with 200 home sales in 2012 of Top 250 Latino Real Estate Agents in US! » Awarded #48 with 120 home sales in 2011 of Top 250 Latino Real Estate Agents in US! www.FloridaDreamsRealty.com 321.689.6258 cell - Adriana@FloridaDreamsRealty.com IN THE NEWS Circuit Court Revives Predatory Mortgage Lending Suits Against Three Large Banks e 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently revived three lawsuits that were brought about by the City of Miami, accusing Wells Fargo & Co, Bank of America Corp., and Citigroup of discriminatory and predatory mortgage lending practices to minority borrowers. e lawsuit, originally introduced to a lower court by the City of Miami on December 13, 2011, alleged that each bank in question had participated in a decade-long pattern of discriminatory lending by targeting blacks and Hispanics for predatory loans. e court documents revealed that the city alleged that the banks "refused to extend credit to minority borrowers when compared to white borrowers," then "when the bank did extend credit, it did so on predatory terms." e case was dismissed in July 2014 by U.S. District Judge William Dimitrouleas in Fort Lauderdale, Florida on the grounds that: "the city lacked statutory standing under the FHA because its alleged injuries fell outside the statute's "zone of interests"; the city had not adequately pled that Wells Fargo's conduct proximately caused the harm sustained by the city; and, the city had run afoul of the statute of limitations and could not employ the continuing violation doctrine." Now, in a 3-0 vote, the Circuit Court said that the lower court made an error by dismissing the city's claims under the Fair Housing Act, according to court documents. In addition, the court found that the city does have constitutional standing to pursue its FHA claims. "It is clear that the harm the city claims to have suffered has a sufficiently close connection to the conduct the statute prohibits," Circuit Judge Stanley Marcus wrote. e City of Miami's lawsuit against the three banks alleged that their engagement in discriminatory lending in the residential housing market caused the city economic harm. e lawsuits say the conduct of the banks had a "disparate impact" on minority borrowers which resulted in a disproportionate number of foreclosures on properties owned by minorities and a disproportionate number of exploitative loans in minority neighborhoods. e City of Miami said this disproportionate number of foreclosures resulted in the city devoting more resources toward combating blight, thus negatively affecting the city's economy. e city also alleged, "the bank targeted black and Latino customers in Miami for predatory loans that carried more risk, steeper fees, and higher costs than those offered to identically situated white customers, and created internal incentive structures that encouraged employees to provide these types of loans," Judge Marcus noted. e predatory loans, as identified by the city, include: high-cost loans, subprime loans, interest-only loans, balloon payment loans, loans with prepayment penalties, negative amortization loans, no documentation loans, and adjustable rate mortgages with teaser rates. e city's complaint accused all three banks of "redlining" and "reverse redlining." Redlining is the practice of refusing to extend mortgage credit to minority borrowers on equal terms as to non-minority borrowers, while reverse redlining is the practice of extending mortgage credit on exploitative terms to minority borrowers. e 11th Circuit Court did not rule on the merits. Georgia RANK: 36 90+ Day Foreclosure Unemployment Delinquency Rate Rate Rate JULY 2015 2.39% 0.85% 5.9 YEAR AGO 2.83% 1.04% 7.1 YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -15.5% -18.2% -1.2 Top County UPSON COUNTY 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate JULY 2015 4.26% 2.01% YEAR AGO 4.74% 1.95% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -10.2% 3.2% Top Core-Based Statistical Area HINESVILLE, GA 90+ Day Foreclosure Delinquency Rate Rate JULY 2015 4.83% 1.58% YEAR AGO 5.37% 1.31% YEAR-OVER-YEAR CHANGE -10.0% 20.5% note: The 90+ day delinquecy rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans that are seriously delinquent. The foreclosure rate is the percentage of outstanding mortgage loans currently in foreclosure. State rank is based on the July 2015 foreclosure rate. All figures are rounded to the nearest decimal. The unemployment rate reflects preliminary July 2015 figures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. All other data courtesy of LPS Data & Analytics.