There is an Associated Press story that has been running around the country on mortgage walkaways and state anti-deficiency laws. Here is the long version of the story. The story accurately quotes me but then provides a list of states that the reporter on the story claims are the “full list” of states that have anti-deficiency laws and the positioning of the list in the story makes it look like the reporter got the list from me. He did not. And based on my understanding, the list provided is highly inaccurate.
I’ve received several emails from people around the country asking about this list, and in particular, the inclusion of Florida on the list. Let me emphasize–the reporter did not get that list from me and based on my knowledge the list that is provided is incorrect. Based on my understanding, there are multiple errors both of inclusion and omission on the list. Please do not rely on the list provided in the story and if you have any questions you should check with a real estate specialist in the state in which the property is located (this would seem to be obvious, but I had one lawyer contact me who said she had been rebuked by a client who was upset and said that the lawyer was “obviously incompetent” because she didn’t even know what was in the newspaper).
And please don’t attribute this list to me–it isn’t mine.