The Herald Tribune reports from Florida. "John Rankin remembers the day the owner at 2214 Sonoma Drive skipped town. 'He packed up his truck one day, and drove away,' said Rankin, president of the Mission Estates homeowners association in Venice. 'Then he just never came back.' That was nearly a year ago. As weeks and then months went by, the property fell into disrepair."

"After press time last week, nearly a year after the property was first abandoned, the foreclosure case finally went to court. While Rankin said he is hopeful the association will receive its back assessments, there is no guarantee these days that that will happen."

"'If you get enough of these vacant units, those monies from assessments aren't coming in, and what do you do when you get a shortfall?' said Community Association Leadership Lobby director David Muller. 'You still have to pay the management and the maintenance crews.'"

"According to the CALL survey, of those Southwest Florida associations that did take steps to make up for the revenue being lost, many did engage in legal action to force a mortgage lender to pay (40 percent). But just as popular was increasing the monthly maintenance fees for all other residents (32 percent), and increasing special assessment fees for everyone (38 percent)."

"In other words, it seems the likely scenario for most residents is that their own fees will be raised to make up for the delinquency of others who have gone into foreclosure. Muller said those extra fees can wind up creating a cascading effect."

"'Especially the folks there on a fixed income, they might not be able to make ends meet,' he said. 'Those folks who are already struggling to make their payments now face increases, and they might not make it and wind up in foreclosure themselves. And so it snowballs from there.'"

National Public Radio. "On a recent Saturday morning, real estate agent Marc Joseph and his staff drove about a dozen people through the streets of Cape Coral. For three hours, they visited nearly a dozen bank-owned properties, many of which had been marked down more than 50 percent."

"A four-bedroom, three-bathroom house with an in-ground pool that last sold for $741,500 in March 2006; it's on the market now for $369,900. A three-bedroom ranch house on a freshwater canal selling for $143,500, having been sold just 17 months ago for $316,800."

"Fishkind and Associates estimates that Lee County has a three- to five-year inventory of unsold homes. As a result, homes can now be bought for well under the replacement cost, Joseph says. 'There is a lot of inventory on the market, and there's a lot more coming,' Joseph says."

"When condominiums went on the market at the gleaming new development of Cape Harbour in Cape Coral, Fla., a few years ago, so many people wanted to buy that the owners had to sell them by lottery. The fact that the towers hadn't been built yet was viewed as a minor concern."

"By the time the tower was finished, the real estate boom had ended, and today many of those same condos are unsold or in foreclosure, says real estate agent and resident Robin Speronis."

"As prices have fallen back to earth, owners have increasingly found themselves owing more than their properties are worth, and are walking away from them, helping to create a backlog of more than 19,000 unsold homes — about six times as many as two years ago."

"Marcus Netto has to work two jobs to pay the mortgage, maintenance and taxes on the two Fort Myers properties he owns; he also has a time-share in Orlando. But he has to dip into savings to cover his expenses."

"'I got almost $4,000 every month (in costs),' says Netto. 'That's a lot of money for me. I don't make that.'"

The Miami Herald. "Harriet and Paul Fass, both 65 and hoping to soon retire, aren't rich. Even so, the Wilton Manors couple cobbled together $100,000 to invest in the financing of a private housing development in Florida City, in the midst of the region's real estate boom."

"Now the Fasses, and some four dozen other investors, are facing the prospect of losing hundreds of thousands of dollars. Some families' entire life savings could be wiped out. The investors had bought into a lie."

"A Florida City public official had guaranteed, in writing, to bail out the project if it stumbled. 'It sounded safer than the stock market,' Harriet Fass said of the real estate deal."

From CBS 4.com. "Forbes Magazine has come out with a list of the top ten worst-selling housing markets in the U.S. And it's probably no surprise to you that Miami tops the list. Housing prices are coming down fast."

"The words 'price reduction' are almost standard with any sign in a yard today, making it nearly impossible to judge what is a good deal, especially when you see how much prices are dropping. At the peak of our market in 2004 home values rose on average $1,000 a week. So far this year we're in a nosedive, prices dropping $1250 a week."

"'It went so fast and, so crazily, that I think it has to,' said Hazel Goldman. 'You know anything that goes up has to come down.'"

"Goldman, a realtor, blames credit for the steady drop in price. Banks now demand 20 to 30 percent down. 'Unfortunately as much as the young people can afford the payments, which is a struggle, but more and more people can, it's hard for them to come up with the down payment,' Goldman."

"Blythe Mandelbaum couldn't pass up a sweet deal: $150,000 off the 2007 price tag. 'We got a lot for our money. We're in the right school district. I'm very happy. I know prices are still coming down but I don't know if I would have been as lucky.'"

"And while some jumping in, most are staying out, and in a sense making money, $1250 a week."

From TC Palm. "James Perham had called his rented Peninsula Lane house home for eight months when a bank representative showed up on his doorstep two weeks ago and told him he was trespassing."

"Perham didn't know the man he was paying had allowed the house to go into foreclosure in April 2007 — before getting a renter. Perham's landlord didn't own the house. The bank did."

"'I have a feeling that it's going to start happening quite a bit there because of the current state of the market,' said Brad Hunter, director of Metrostudy. 'A lot of people bought homes at the peak and can't afford their mortgage payments now. ... They're getting in over their heads, and they're not communicating to their renters what the true situation is.'"

"In St. Lucie County, 549 homes entered some stage of foreclosure last month, up from 370 in March 2007, according to RealtyTrac. Martin County had 160 homes entering a stage of foreclosure last month compared with only 38 in March 2007, while Indian River County had 153 homes entering foreclosure last month, up from 58 a year earlier."

"Anyone looking to lease or buy should hire an attorney or contact a legal aide before signing papers or handing over any security money or rent, said Billy Moss, a commercial real estate agent in Vero Beach."

"'Leases are a very delicate situation,' Moss said. 'I would never sign a lease unless an attorney was involved.'"

"When his landlord wanted only cash, Perham thought it was a little odd. But when the neighbors had good things to say about him, Perham decided the man was OK and handed over his $3,100 deposit. 'It was a nice house, the guy lived across (from) the canal,' Perham said. 'I didn't question anything.'" "And then, more than $12,000 in rent later, came the bank officer."

"Perham found another private home to rent — this time in Port St. Lucie — and will move in May 1. His rent has been cut in half. 'But believe me, I went through the court system and checked everything, checked to make sure everything's been paid,' Perham said. 'I'm going to do it from now on.'"

The Orlando Sentinel. "Mired in confusion over mortgage and title situations, some homeowners are taking drastic steps to simplify their lives -- including walking away from their homes."

"As housing values fall and credit woes rise, more Central Florida consumers are turning to a process that lenders, credit counselors and foreclosure experts advise against. But even they understand why it can be appealing to homeowners."

"'If you're in good standing, you might as well talk to the wall,' said Orlando attorney Rick Franzblau, who handles foreclosure cases. 'Until you stop paying, they won't even talk to you.'"

"Elizabeth Levensohn walked away from her Mount Dora home about six months ago and says it was the best thing she has ever done. She bought the house for just more than $100,000 a little more than two years ago."

"'It was the only house I could afford,' Levensohn said."

"At the time, it seemed like a good decision. She thought she'd be able to pay the mortgage on her salary as a school director at an Orlando church. Commuting wasn't that expensive. The cottage was less than 700 square feet, just enough room for Levensohn and her daughter."

"Within a year, she knew it was the biggest mistake of her life. When she and Isabella were down to eating ramen and beans and rice, she knew something had to give."

"She decided to walk away from the house and let it go into foreclosure. Now she rents an apartment and lives a car-free -- and, she said, relatively stress-free -- life in Orlando."