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TAMPA - It's been more than a year since David Austin asked his mortgage company to modify his loan.
He says he was told to stop making payments while he waits. He doesn't receive phone calls or letters, and the lender hasn't filed for foreclosure.
"It's like they forgot about me," Austin said. "Every month, I get more behind, and my house value drops further."
Austin, who said he owes about $208,000 on his now $137,000 home, is among an estimated 51 percent of Tampa Bay homeowners who owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth, according to First American CoreLogic. He, like so many other homeowners, are desperate and growing more frustrated by the day.
Underwater mortgages are difficult to refinance because lenders don't want to take a risk on homes with no equity. President Barack Obama announced a plan in early February to make it easier for homeowners to refinance or qualify for modifications, but many homeowners complain it's more difficult than ever to deal with their lenders.
Meanwhile, the area's foreclosure rate continues to increase, clogging an overwhelmed court system and leading the Florida Supreme Court to ponder solutions. Florida has one of the nation's highest foreclosure rates. It was third behind Arizona and California in June.
And the landscape of the foreclosure crisis is changing. At first, it was borrowers with shaky subprime loans or adjustable rate loans. Now – largely because of rising unemployment - the number of delinquent homeowners with plain, fixed-rate loans is growing, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
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