Study shows credit card debt in south Florida / West Palm Beach area among highest % in the country

A recent study conducted by consumer watchdog website CreditCards.com reported that residents of south Florida, from Miami north through West Palm Beach carry the 4th largest credit card debt burden in the country. On average each south Floridian carries an average of $4,325 in credit card debt according to the study. Furthermore, it would take the average person over a year to pay off that debt if they started paying it off now and stopped using their credit cards until they were fully paid off.

That average credit card debt burden of $4,325 equals over 15.7% of the median individual income in our area, which is $27,453 according to published statistics from the U.S. Department of Justice. Median household income is $47,463 according to the latest Census survey in 2014. What do all of these facts and figures mean to you as a resident here in West Palm Beach?

In an article published by Kenny Malone on the WLRN website regarding the study, he quoted CreditCards.com senior industry analyst Matt Shulz who said “It certainly seems that Miami residents are putting a little bit more than they can afford on their cards. You know, as evidenced by the fact that we see that it would take the average person in Miami about 14 months and about $350 in interest to pay off their credit card debt… That’s a long time and a lot of money.”

To read this entire article please go to: http://wlrn.org/post/study-south-florida-fourth-worst-credit-card-debt-burden-country

The South Florida Business Journal also highlighted a study from the credit agency Equifax that although south Florida has seen a significant dip overall in consumer debt over the last year, that in fact “In the auto, bank credit card, and retail card category, South Floridians incurred 11 percent more debt in the 12 months leading up to March 31 (2015).” http://www.bizjournals.com/southflorida/news/2015/05/05/south-florida-has-greatest-dip-in-consumer-debt.html

If you are in West Palm Beach, Ft. Lauderdale, Miami, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Clearwater or anywhere else in the state of Florida and in need of a law firm knowledgeable about credit card debt issues, then contact us at Korte & Wortman, P.A. Korte & Wortman is a law firm specializing in credit card debt defense and defending our clients in all aspects of consumer debt issues including bankruptcy, mortgage debt, foreclosure, Deed in Lieu and short sales. We have had excellent results working with a number of clients to save them tens and even hundreds of thousands of dollars on their credit card debt, mortgage modifications, Dodd-Frank Act cases and other consumer loan issues. Check out a few of our many success stories on our website at http://foreclosurefactor.com/practice-areas/credit-cards/

Our home office is based in West Palm Beach, at 2041 Vista Parkway, Suite 102. You can call us at (561) 544-7071, stop in to our office, email us at vdinapoli@kwlawfirm.com or come to our website. Our firm represents clients throughout the state of Florida and across the eastern seaboard. We also have offices in Sunrise and Clearwater, Florida.

Federal loan modification programs extended a year – Florida has most people still in need of help

Earlier this year, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced that it was extending two government loan modification programs from the end of this year to the end of next year (2016). Most home owners have heard of the first program, the Home Affordable Refinance Program, by its acronym, HARP. The second, lesser known program is the Home Affordable Modification Program. These programs were set up to help homeowners reduce their monthly mortgage payments by as much as $3,000 per year, according to the FHFA.

The extension was announced in response to the number of home owners who are eligible to apply but have yet to do so… 604,680 as of May of this year. Interestingly, the state with the most eligible borrowers who have yet to apply for either plan is right here in Florida. In fact over 13% of the total eligible home owners (81,422), reside here. And over 21% of those borrowers live here in south Florida, the largest percentage of any area in the state.

As this graph from Palm Beach Post writer Kimberly Miller’s article in May shows, after south Florida the second largest area of affected borrowers are in the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater area.

To read this article in its entirety, please go to: http://realtime.blog.palmbeachpost.com/2015/05/18/more-than-81000-florida-homeowners-missing-out-on-govt-loan-mod-help/

If you are in West Palm Beach, Ft. Lauderdale, Miami, Tampa, St. Petersburg, Clearwater or anywhere else in the state of Florida and in need of a law firm knowledgeable about loan and mortgage modifications, then contact us at Korte & Wortman, P.A. Korte & Wortman is a law firm specializing in all aspects of real estate and home ownership law, including HARP and the Home Affordable Modification Program. We have had excellent results working with a number of clients to save them tens and even hundreds of thousands of dollars on their home loans. Check out a few of our many success stories on our website at http://foreclosurefactor.com/results/loan-modification-results/

In addition to using this blog as a helpful resource, please contact us directly if you have any questions or current legal issues in any type of real estate transaction. Our home office is based in West Palm Beach, at 2041 Vista Parkway, Suite 102. You can call us at (561) 544-7071, stop in to our office, email us at vdinapoli@kwlawfirm.com or come to our website at http://www.foreclosurefactor.com. Our firm represents clients throughout the state of Florida and across the eastern seaboard. We also have offices in Sunrise and Clearwater, Florida.

We look forward to helping you get the legal advice that you need in all HARP, loan modification, Dodd-Frank Act, foreclosure, bankruptcy and credit card situations.