Governor Charlie Crist has created the Florida Home Ownership Promotes the Economy — the acronym is HOPE) — Task Force to develop an action plan to address Florida’s escalating foreclosure rate.
The Florida HOPE Task Force is meeting now with experts in the mortgage and banking industries, as well as consumer advocates and policy experts, to review Florida’s foreclosure rate and its impact on Florida’s economy.
“Foreclosure hurts all Floridians by depressing home values and causing families to lose homes, jobs and hope,” said Governor Crist. “As this task force comes together to explore solutions, we will search for ways to restore hope to Florida’s families – and to our state’s economy.”
In 2007, Florida ranked second in the number of home foreclosures with twice as many foreclosures than in 2006. The Florida HOPE Task Force will develop an action plan to address the foreclosure rate and identify ways to preserve home ownership for Floridians.
“Last year one out of every 95 households experienced foreclosure in our state with filings up more than 275 percent over the previous year,” said Florida’s Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink.
The task force will present recommendations to the Governor, Speaker of the House and President of the Senate by April 18.
Governor Crist appointed Lt. Governor Jeff Kottkamp as chair. Other members appointed by the Governor are Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, Senator Bill Posey and one other Senator, Representative Franklin Sands and one other Representative, Alex Sanchez of the Florida Bankers Association, D. Ritch Workman of the Florida Association of Mortgage Brokers, Mike Fields of Bank of America, Thomas Kuntz of SunTrust, Nancy Riley of Florida Realtors Association, Bill Newton of the Florida Consumer Action Network and Steve Auger of the Florida Housing Finance Corporation.
In developing the state action plan to address Florida’s foreclosure rate, the task force is assessing Florida’s banking and mortgage industries, including the subprime market and subprime borrowers, as well as the current laws and regulations related to the foreclosure process.
They are also identifying and assessing public and private financial resources and educational opportunities available to assist Florida homeowners.