Video Summary

Do I still own my property if I have filed bankruptcy and have included the lien or the amount that I owe in the bankruptcy estate?  The answer is, yes, you still own the property even after you’re discharged from bankruptcy.  The bankruptcy simply discharges the debt, meaning that you no longer have personal liability for the promissory note.  The lender still has a mortgage against the property.  However, they must foreclose that mortgage in order to divest you from the title.  So, you should not just walk away from the property even after a foreclosure in that you can retain the property until they complete a foreclosure action.  So, you still own it until such time as they’ve completed a foreclosure action against your property.

If you have any questions about ownership of your property after you’ve filed a bankruptcy action, give me a call at (727) 847-2288.

Video Summary

What is a balloon mortgage?  That certainly is a strange word to use, but it is a legally-defined term, and it means a mortgage brand or is a payment that is twice the amount of the regular payments that are paid.

Best way to illustrate this is let’s say that you have a $100,000.00 mortgage, and you set the payments out so that it would be paid out over a period of 30 years.  So let’s say the payments are $500.00 a month, and we won’t go into the interest rate, but you pay $500.00 a month for five years, and then the note says it becomes due and payable in five years.

Well, you haven’t paid off the $100,000.00 in the five-year period so after five years you’ll still be owed probably $60 or $70 or $80,000.00 on the $100,000.00, and that’s called the balloon payment.

So that’s the illustration or an example of a balloon payment, which is whenever you have regular periodic payments, and then you have a very large payment that becomes due and payable.  Most of your commercial mortgages these days also set up a balloon payment.  They spread your mortgage payments out over a 15- or 20-year period, but they say the loan becomes due and payable after three or five years, and certainly if you have investors involved, that can be the case with residential property whenever you have owner financing.

If you use a balloon mortgage on a residential property, and it’s a second mortgage, then the statutes provide that you must have certain bold-faced language at the top of the mortgage and also above the signature page indicating this is a balloon mortgage and setting forth the amount of the balloon payment, and that’s so it’s basic consumer protection type situation so someone can’t say, “Well, oh, I thought I’d have this thing paid off in five years.”  Well, if there’s a principal balance above where you sign it, well, you’ve got to sort of be blind in one eye and can’t see out of the other if you can see that the principal balance is not going to be paid off when the loan becomes due and payable since they set forth a balloon payment.  There are some penalties if this language is not on the second mortgage on a residential transaction.

So that’s a balloon mortgage.  If you have any questions about it, well, give me a call at 727-847-2288.  Thank you.

Video Summary

If I have a homestead exemption in Florida, can my spouse hold a homestead exception in another state?  The answer is, “No,” because if you’re husband and wife, the property appraiser determines that it is a family and therefore you’re saying that the family has their homestead or permanent residence in Florida if you have a homestead exemption.  Whenever you sign the application for homestead, you say that you don’t have an exemption in another state and that goes for your spouse.

It’s even more difficult whenever people are going through a divorce proceeding and they’re not divorced and they’re separated for some time and they’re not going through a divorce proceeding, whether or not both spouses can obtain a homestead exemption.  I know that our local property appraiser, Mike Wells in Pasco County, is really tough on this and in fact investigates any number of people who apply for a homestead exemption to determine whether or not they have homestead in another state.  If they do, then he slaps a homestead lien against their property for all the exemptions they received.

I don’t know how other property appraisers are as far as investigating this, but if your spouse is getting homestead in another state, then I don’t suggest you try and get homestead in Florida because if you get caught, the homestead exemption penalties are quite severe.  He puts a lien against your property for all these back-due taxes.  So I would talk to the property appraiser of you do want to try and do that and ask them before you apply for a homestead exemption here in Florida in your name.  If you have any other questions, give me a call at 847-2288.  Thank you.

Video Summary

When can I apply for a homestead exemption?  You can apply as soon as you become the owner of the property and become a permanent resident of the state of Florida and move into the property that you purchase.  When you make application, you’re applying for the next calendar year, so if you buy a property in 2012 and you move into the property and you own it, you can apply at any time up until March 1, 2013 for homestead exemption.

There are two exemptions.  One exemption is for the first $25,000.00, which exempts about $500.00 in taxes.  There’s an additional $25,000.00 exemption with the assessed value between $50,000.00 and $75,000.00 and that exempts everything but school taxes, which will save you approximately $300.00.  So, you can apply as soon as you have your recorded deed or to show that the proof of ownership – you occupy the property and you’re a permanent resident in the state of the Florida. 

How do you show that you’re a resident of the state of Florida?  Get a Florida driver’s license.  That’s the first step, which I understand’s not particularly easy anymore with all the identification you need (but that’s a topic for another video I guess) and also if you register to vote, that’s another good indication. 

You can’t have any homestead exemptions from any other state, if you own property in more than one state.  However, you can apply as soon as possible, but it’s for the following year.  If you have any more questions, give me a call at (727) 847-2288.

Video Summary

Who qualifies for homestead exemption?  First, homestead exemption is something that you apply for before January 1st of any year which you wish to obtain homestead exemption.  The application must be made on or before March 1st of a particular year.  By way of example, if you bought a home December 23, 2011, and you moved into the home, then you could apply for a homestead exemption in 2012, and you have until March 1 of 2012.  Now, in order to be qualified, besides owning and occupying the property, you must be a Florida resident. 

You cannot be a resident of another state and have two homestead exemptions. And you have to put this on the application- that you don’t have homestead in any other state.  In order to qualify for homestead exemption, you have to own the home prior to December 31st of the preceding year and you must be a resident of the state of Florida and occupy the property.  You cannot have two homesteads, whether they be in Florida or another state.  Our property appraiser, Mike Wells, researches this and will disqualify you for your homestead exemption if you have an exemption in another state and there are substantial penalties involved, also.

From time to time folks want to know, “Can I get a homestead on the property here and my wife get a homestead on a property up north?”  I don’t suggest your trying to do that- it may fail.  If you’re a husband and wife, then you’re considered a family unit, and they may not allow the above.  You also would not want to have to defend your actions if they found out later on.  You would need to discuss that with the property appraiser at the time you apply for homestead exemption, whether here in Pasco County, or with any property appraiser. 

So, in order to get a homestead exemption, be sure you’re a resident in the state of Florida and you’ve owned the property prior to the year you apply.  If you bought the property on January 2, 2012, you can’t get homestead exemption until 2013.  One last note is that you can apply for homestead exemption as soon as you get the property, up until March 1 of the following year.  If you have any questions, call me at (727) 847-2288.  Thank you.