State senate candidate Kevin Burns knows a thing or two about mounting debts. After all the former North Miami mayor played an instrumental role in convincing Miami-Dade County courts to create a mortgage foreclosure diversion program two years ago so folks like him stay in their homes. At the time, Burns was about to lose the three-bedroom house he owes more than $279,000 on. Read the foreclosure documents here.
Today, Burns says he is close to finalizing a loan modification agreement that will allow him to keep the house in the tony Keystone Point community he shares with his partner, a stay-at-home-dad to their 7-year-old daughter. "I am not a millionaire like other candidates," Burns says. "I work hard and just like everybody else I have daily challenges in this economy."
Indeed. This past April 8, Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge John Schlesinger ruled Burns owed $118,362 to Annie Montgomery, a longtime supporter of the North Miami politician, who abandoned his bid for the Democratic Party's U.S. Senate nomination to run for the seat being vacated by state. Sen Dan Gelber. Burns' opponent is former state legislator and county commissioner Gwen Margolis.
In addition to the $118,362 owed to Montgomery, Burns also has a $75,000 debt on his truncated federal campaign. Burns says the judgment against him is nothing to worry about. "It was friendly litigation," he says. "I did not contest it. It was done to protect her interests. We are planning on getting that one paid off in the next couple of years."
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