Sharon Fleming, Realtor® Port St Lucie~Florida

Rank in Saint Lucie County: 2 /236 (Featured!)
Rank in Port Saint Lucie: 2 /188 (Featured!)

I am proud to say that I am #2 in St Lucie county, after months of blogging and being a part of the active rain community I am moving my way up, the St Lucie Ladder :0)

Yes I am tooting my own horn and I am proud to say that I use active Rain as a every day part of my business plan, and it does work for me. I try to use it everyday, and I am starting to use it more and more, as I see that I am reaping the rewards of making it something that I do not only for fun, but also for business purposes, and most of all, I am making friends along the way! That is the best part. I am working my way to be #1 in St Lucie County....Soon....Very SOON! Have a great week to everyone!

And just like that, the foreclosure proceedings came to a standstill.
Desperate times call for Desperate measures, correct? In a last ditch effort for homeowners to stay in their homes and to stall or even halt the foreclosure process, the homeowners are now reaching for any last ditch effort to stay in their homes.

What is the last ditch effort you may ask? It is asking the bank for the "ORIGINAL PAPERWORK" on the mortgage. What do the banks do? Well they have to stop the foreclosure process until the original paperwork can be found, in most instances it has been sold so many times, or placed in some storage area that no one knows where it is.

Does it work in all instances, NO, but it can in some instances cause the judge to delay the foreclosure process long enough for the banks to work with the homeowner and maybe renegotiate the mortgage. This has been sent by email to me many times over the past few weeks, and I feel that if it helps the homeowner stay in the home and work something out with the bank then yes it should be used as the last ditch effort. I have heard that it has worked in some instances, it could be dependent upon how much sympathy the judge has for the homeowner. I do also understand that this may also be avoiding the inevitable, even if only for a while, and I would hope that the homeowner would also recognize this as well.

With no where else for the blame to go, it is now being placed on the Realtors. What was the role of the Realtors. Could it possible be that there ARE Realtors that do place the Client ABOVE the commission. I know it sounds hard to believe....(according to the recent reports) But yes there are Realtors that do even give up part of their commission just so your buyer can get into the home if their dreams. It is our responsibility to make sure that all aspects of the transaction are understood, that includes the financing, and if it means having them to consult a Real Estate Lawyer then so be it.

I want my buyers/sellers to be ASSURED that their interest is first and foremost, not the commission. This is where the Code of Ethics does come into play. (thats another blog) We have to protect our client, which means we can't profess that we are Mortgage "experts" when in fact we are not, and we can not lead them one way or the other, but what we can do is EDUCATE our clients, make sure they are aware of the different outlets available to them to educate themselves with the whole transaction, I know it gets touchy and I in no way would ever give legal advice.

But if we are silent and we don't say anything isnt that in fact just as bad? In my opinion yes it is.

I am so tired of hearing that Realtors are only concerned with one thing, and that is closing the deal. That is SO far left field with me, and I hope it is with most Realtors, I want what is best for my client, and if that means that now is not the time to buy, then so be it! I don't want them being faced with foreclosure within the next year, due to my negligence. It is absurd to think that the blame is now falling onto us. That we CAUSED this mess. I am sure that there were Realtors that did get greedy, but that is one of very few.

This is where the saying one bad apple....

It is now time for us to make the CHANGE!

City of Port St Lucie has indeed been hit hard with the Foreclosures and all of the Short Sales. But is this a reason for our county to be declared in a State of Emergency? This would be a first of its kind, in an economy like no other. Just as we are declared in a State of Emergency with a Hurricane, Port St Lucie would be declared just that. At one point in time Port St Lucie was one of the fastest growing cities in America. With families flocking here to attain their dream homes, we are now 10,000+ strong in foreclosed properties and a staggering 10.5% unemployment rate. There is $17.5 million dollars that is set aside for our Hurricane Season, and now commissioners are wanting to use those funds to take care of this "DISASTER". The foreclosure Disaster a disaster that WE caused, not a natural disaster, a MAN MADE ONE! It is amazing that we are in an economy so bad that we are actually thinking of using these funds to take care of the foreclosures, and what will happen when a Hurricane hits this area? Is that going to leave the city strapped for funds? Yes it is! There has to be some other solution to this problem. I will tell you that THIS is not the solution! Port St Lucie is still a great place to live, the prices on Real Estate is great right now, jobs can be found, and giving hope to the communities here in Port St Lucie is something that we ALL have to do. Posting stories in local news papers and on CNN stating that St Lucie county is one of the hardest hit area is true, but is the trauma to the area so severe that it is a Disaster, I would say no in my opinion. In some sort of little or drastic way, everyone in the US, and beyond in some instances, have been effected by the downturn on the market, and yes some hit worse than others, but I still believe that Port St Lucie is one of the best places in the US to live and to raise a family. The negativity that this has brought to our area is unjust, where are the positive aspects of our area? You dont see that in the news. The prices on homes are at an all time low, and new industry and Bio-Tech jobs are coming to St Lucie county, we have to all work on this together, volunteer our time when we can, get together within your community and see where you can help, have a community "pot luck" dinner, its the little things that help, and we do have to start somewhere. I am continually amazed at even in our bleakest times, we can still come together as a community and help each other.

Here is the Law on doing such a thing, just so you know:

THE LAW

• Chapter 252 of Florida State Statutes gives local governments the authority to declare a local state of emergency.

• It gives the public safety director the ability to seize control of necessary resources

• It allows local government to bypass state purchasing and bidding requirements to repair or recover from the emergency.