The Naples Daily News reports from Florida. "Frenzied flippers have walked away from contracts to purchase homes as the real estate market has slowed across Florida. In their dust, they've left behind cash. Rather than keep the cash, Taylor Woodrow is offering other buyers the opportunity to use forfeited deposits toward the purchase of a new home at a few of its communities."

"'They will be able to buy a home that already has the deposit in place,' said Tim Diers, director of sales and marketing for Taylor Woodrow's Southwest Division."

"While some might see it as just a marketing gimmick, the company says it's a way to increase buying power."

"By using the forfeited deposits toward purchases, the company can keep its recorded home prices higher. 'We want to keep the valuations of the communities up and the neighborhoods up,' Diers said. A few other builders in Florida have offered similar programs, including G.L. Homes, based in Sunrise."

"Under the program, most buyers still have to put down their own deposits, depending on how financing is structured, Diers said."

"Ross McIntosh, a Naples-based real estate broker, said marketing a home that another buyer has walked away from can be tough. Other buyers are left with the impression that the home isn't worth its selling price. 'It's nice to have the deposit,' he said. 'But it's not nice to have the deposit and be stuck with the unit.'"

"'For a lot of people that are looking at this market from a long-term standpoint, now is actually a good time to buy,' Diers said. 'If you're looking to buy a property to flip, certainly I don't think anybody looks at the ability to do that in this marketplace.'"

"One by one, some of the nation's largest home-builders have seen quarterly earnings get crushed by the slump in the housing market. Miami-based Lennar Corp. became the latest victim Tuesday."

"'These are difficult times for the home-building industry,' CEO Stuart Miller said. 'The reality is that market conditions are still challenging at best and in some markets continuing to deteriorate.'"

"Orders fell 34 percent in Lennar's east segment, which includes Florida, Maryland, New Jersey and Virginia. Among the slowest markets were southwest Florida and the area north of Palm Beach County, the company said."

From Reuters. "Gabriellee Cunningham had fallen behind on the mortgage on her modest suburban Miami home and was mired in debt when she was approached in June by a door-to-door 'mortgage lender' who promised to help her."

"Nine months later, her $89,000 mortgage has ballooned into a $234,000 loan, her monthly payments have doubled and she faces foreclosure on a house she no longer owns."

"'I know I did something stupid but I am going to fight these people 'til my last breath because they are trying to rob me,' said Cunningham."

"Florida is among the states hardest hit by the crisis, which some advocates believe is in its infancy. Florida ranks second to California in the percentage of subprime loans, many of whom are finding they can't make their payments."

"By some estimates, up to 30 percent of loans in Miami are subprime." "Jeffrey Hearne, a lawyer with Legal Services of Greater Miami, said his office saw few cases until two years ago but now has two dozen and sees one or two new ones each week. 'We are having to turn them away,' he said."

"Cunningham says her mortgage, an $89,000 loan at 8.5 percent when she bought the home in 2000, is now a $234,000 loan at 11 percent. Monthly payments have gone from $1,038 to $2,275. And her name is no longer on the title. 'How do you think I'm going to pay $2,275 if I fell behind at $1,038?' she said. 'I'm afraid I don't even own my home anymore.'"

The Palm Beach Post. "Foreclosures spiked in the state and around the region in February, according to a study released Monday that confirmed fears the housing boom's speculation and easy credit would lead to a hangover."

"In Florida, 19,144 homes entered foreclosure in February, the most of any state, said RealtyTrac."

"In Palm Beach County, 1,317 homes went into foreclosure, nearly double January's 680 foreclosures and well above the 765 foreclosures in February 2006. The 228 foreclosures in St. Lucie County were triple the February 2006 number."

"'It's no secret that Florida had a disproportionate number of speculators buying homes they never intended to use,' said Brad Hunter of Metrostudy Corp. in West Palm Beach. 'We've known for some time now that those people were going to lose their homes.'"

"'Prices are going to come down,' said Jack McCabe, a Deerfield Beach-based housing consultant. 'It's the period that I call 'catch a falling knife.'"

From TC Palm. "Ron Rennick will conduct an auction Thursday at the Vero Beach Museum of Art, with properties ranging from condominium units at the Vista Plantation complex to large million-dollar waterfront estate homes."

"'Some people are very motivated to sell their homes, but obviously it's difficult in a slow market,' Rennick said. 'The properties all have different owners...and buyers will be able to find some good prices.'"

"Jack McCabe said auctions are being used more frequently because the normal sale and marketing aren't working. 'I think we're going to see a lot more of foreclosures, a lot more homes taken back by the banks and a lot more homes being auctioned on the steps of court houses,' McCabe said."

The Tampa Tribune. "After decades of rampant enrollment growth and a frantic race to build schools, Hillsborough County expects a halt in 2007-08."

"'If I had to be a betting person, I see no indication that the economy would turn,' said Jim Hamilton, Hillsborough schools' chief officer for district compliance. 'Housing prices would have to come back to reality, and rentals that tried to convert to condos would have to convert back to work force housing.'"

The Bradenton Herald. "Coast Financial Holdings Inc. has been hit with another class action lawsuit seeking a jury trial."

"The suit filed Monday in Tampa federal court alleges that directors and officers of the holding company and its Bradenton-based Coast Bank withheld information from shareholders that wound up cutting their stock value in half."

"It names as plaintiff Troy Ratcliff as an individual and on behalf of others with similar potential claims. Ratcliff's suit maintains that Coast Financial partnered with St. Petersburg-based Construction Compliance Inc. in order to 'take advantage of the housing boom and in particular the fast-growing real estate market in Southwest Florida.'"

"'The plan was simple: Borrowers would put little money down and take out construction loans in their name that CCI would then use to construct the properties,' the suit states. 'CCI would then use the credit line to construct the properties and pay the interest on the loans. Once the construction was completed, borrowers would then sell the property or 'flip' it for a quick profit.'"

"'Furthermore, the company should have fully disclosed the risks associated with this line of business - there were little, if any, controls placed on CCI and its ability to withdraw money from Coast Financial,' Ratcliff's suit states. 'Ultimately, CCI withdrew tens of millions of dollars, never completed construction on many homes and left Coast Financial holding the bag.'"