Tougher licensing standards for Florida mortgage brokers
A new law will establish tougher licensing requirements for Florida mortgage brokers when it takes effect in October. Brokers will be required have at least a high school education and have to give clients more detailed information about adjustable-rate mortgages, the Miami Herald reported.
The legislation follows many complaints that brokers push risky loans to reap higher commissions but often fail to correctly explain the terms of the mortgages.
The Florida Association of Mortgage Brokers contends that current licensing requirements for brokers — a 24-hour class, state exam and $200 fee — are too lax. Florida doesn’t license loan officers either, which easily allows rogue players to enter the industry, according to the trade group.
The number of Florida mortgage brokers has more than doubled from 28,000 in 2001 to 67,000 in 2006.
Critics of the tougher standards say they won’t yield lasting change.
“What you see is greed getting in the way,” said Jim Greer, president of Gold Coast Real Estate Schools. “I don’t know [whether] a 24-hour course or a 60-hour course is going to make an impact.”
South Florida home sales lag
Buyer indifference in the spring selling season resulted in the worst May for Broward County home sales since the Florida Association of Realtors started tracking them in 1994, the Sun-Sentinel reported.
Sales of existing homes were down 33 percent compared to the year before and down 1 percent from the previous month.
Meanwhile, the situation was even worse in Miami-Dade County.
Single-family homes sales in May, the most recent data available, dropped 44 percent from a year ago and 7 percent from the month before.
Sales are expected to lag into the summer despite a statewide property tax reform package signed into law in June, according to the Miami Herald.
The median price for a Broward single-family home was $367,700 in May, down 3 percent from a year ago but up 1 percent from the prior month.
Miami-Dade prices did better. The median price for a single-family house was $401,100, up 6 percent from last year and 5 percent from April.
Liberty City ready for revitalization
The Liberty City neighborhood of northwest Miami, home to more than half of Miami-Dade County’s African-American population, is ready for some major economic development. At a recent meeting of commercial and residential developers, the Liberty City Community Revitalization Trust presented data from two studies supporting the area’s need for local economic and job opportunities. The surveys were conducted by Washington-based advocacy group Social Compact.
One study found that the population of Liberty City, defined as the area between State Road 112 and the city border, was almost 50,000, a figure 55 percent higher than the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2006 projection. The Census Bureau also underestimated the neighborhood’s total income by nearly 70 percent. The revised figure approaches $500 million.
The survey found that more than 60 percent of residents leave the neighborhood for groceries, clothing stores, restaurants and dry cleaners. City Commissioner Michelle Spence-Jones said if retail and restaurants come to the area, they will prosper, the Miami Herald reported.
Arts district zoning approved for South Beach
Miami Beach’s planning board passed a new zoning code to create a new arts district in South Beach. The city commission is expected to pass the measure in September, the Miami Herald reported. The area, known as the Cultural Arts Neighborhood District Overlay, is bounded by 24th Street and North Lincoln Lane to the north, Meridian and Lenox avenues to the west, South Lincoln Lane to the south and the ocean to the east.
The new code offers developers incentives to provide affordable housing for artists making between 51 and 120 percent of Miami-Dade’s median annual income of $55,900. It allows developers to rehabilitate existing buildings and construct new ones with smaller units than typically allowed, but only if a portion of the project is set aside for work space or affordable rentals or condos for artists.
Residents of the affordable homes must be artists or work for a cultural arts organization. Members of the planning board sought a more specific definition of “artist,” and the requirements are expected to be defined by September.
South Miami mall set for overhaul
The Town & Country Mall in suburban Kendall, seven miles south of Miami, will soon undergo a complete overhaul, the Miami Herald reported. Flagler Real Estate Services’ plans a $90 million demolition and redevelopment of the property, which currently has 400,000 square feet of retail and another 10,000 square feet of restaurants. It also calls for the renovation of a nearby strip mall and the construction of two medical office buildings.
Once finished, the 1-million-square-foot complex will welcome 50 new stores, including Nine West, Jenny Craig, Mattress Giant and a Wachovia bank. The majority of the shopping center is expected to open simultaneously in fall 2009. The mall’s new anchor, a fashion department store that will replace Sears, has not been named.