Archive for January, 2010

Oppenheim Law Argues for “Meaningful Principal Reduction” in The Miami Herald

Friday, January 29th, 2010
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MiamiHerald

In case you didn’t hear, the Obama administration announced changes for requirements of paperwork and documents regarding the Making Home Affordable on Thursday, hoping to improve the success rate and communication between homeowners and lenders.

While this bureaucratic decision may indeed help a few more modifications squeeze through the banks clenching hands, ultimately, the change that is needed for South Florida homeowners requires substantial principal reduction on underwater mortgages.

Oppenheim Law has been arguing for over a year that there are too many mortgages valued greater than the actual market worth in South Florida, and merely lowering interest rates and extending the life of loans will not do enough to solve the Florida foreclosure problem.

To read my thoughts on the latest Home Affordable Modification Program changes, check out the entire Miami Herald article, “Home-loan aid altered” in the Oppenheim Law News Room.

From the trenches,

Roy

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Posted in Florida foreclosures, Florida Law News, Florida real estate, Foreclosure Defense, Loan Modification, Roy Oppenheim, The Miami Herald | 1 Comment »

Subject: Will Haiti’s Horror Impact South Florida Real Estate?

Friday, January 29th, 2010
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Good Question! Let’s explore the possibilities.

Real Estate Black Swan Arrives: Free Legal Foreclosure Workshop February 4

The attorneys at Oppenheim Law point to the crisis in Haiti as a “black swan event,” an occasion no one could have foreseen with drastic effects on the South Florida real estate landscape.

Join Oppenheim Law at the next free legal real estate workshop on February 4, as Roy Oppenheim explains how the tragedy in Haiti will affect South Florida foreclosure. The workshop will also provide insider tips for buying and selling Florida real estate in this turbulent market and explain how to avoid deficiency judgments at all costs through South Florida short sales and other Florida foreclosure defense strategies.

BlackSwanWhat: The Black Swan is Here: Free Real Estate Workshop

When: Thursday, February 4, 2010 – 6:00 to 7:00 PM

Who: Real estate professionals and homeowners facing foreclosure, buyers, and sellers

Where: 2500 Weston Road, Suite 404, Weston, FL 33331

Cost: Free with advanced registration

RSVP: To register email roy@oplaw.net or call 954.384.6114

For more information visit the Oppenheim Law News Room to access all of the event’s details. Please feel free to leave a comment if you have any questions or suggestions for the workshop.

Oppenheim Law looks forward to seeing you all on February 4th.

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Posted in Florida foreclosures, Florida Law News, Florida real estate, Florida short sales, Foreclosure Defense, Foreclosure Workshop, Roy Oppenheim, Short Sales | No Comments »

Why Oppenheim Law Prefers Short Sales Over Florida Foreclosure

Tuesday, January 26th, 2010
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Some Florida attorneys and other experts sometimes seem to suggest there is no difference between having a Florida foreclosure or Florida short sale on your record or credit report and pose the question:

“Why go through the hassle of a short sale?”

The thought process might be technically correct, but only in a state described as a “non-recourse state.” Florida is not one of those states and is in fact a RECOURSE state. This means the banks can and will likely come after you for the difference between the principal value of your Florida mortgage and the value of your home at the time of the Florida foreclosure sale.

In non-recourse states, like California, people can walk or stay, and either way the banks cannot come after you. In Florida, New York and other recourse states the banks can come after you for as long as 20 years. The banks have the right to try and garnish your wages and bank accounts and even depose you under oath. In fact they can and will likely come after you even if you are long dead. You can read my Op-Ed piece in the Sun-Sentinel for a more detailed description of the difference between recourse and non-recourse states.

However, if you get out by orchestrating a South Florida short sale, you’ll likely be released from the amount the bank does not recover at closing. In fact the reason it is called a “Short Sale” is because the bank is coming up short at closing. Now the Bank has a few options. They can take the hit as they do frequently, and as they may well be required to do according to new rules coming out of the Obama Administration, or they can negotiate some payment plan with you. Sometimes the terms are good, and other times they are truly oppressive. However, remember whatever you negotiate is not written in stone or blood and is unsecured.
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Posted in Florida foreclosures, Florida real estate, Florida short sales, Foreclosure Defense, Short Sales | 2 Comments »

Black Swan Haitian Crisis Will Likely Change South Florida Real Estate and Foreclosure

Thursday, January 14th, 2010
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Haitian Crisis Will Likely Change Real Estate Market in South Florida

Haitian's using tents as their homes are destroyed.

At my most recent seminar last week I discussed the possibility of a Black Swan event occurring that would literally change the complexion of the South Florida real estate market. A Black Swan event is something that just can’t be anticipated. At that moment I gave as an example the possibility of tens of thousands of folks from Venezuela fleeing to South Florida from Chavez’s new economic restrictions.

Now it is already anticipated that Haitian refugees will likely be arriving in South Florida over the next several months and likely years. They will need to be housed and be fully integrated into the community.

Further I had discussed that as a nation and as a community, we are blessed with a housing stock or what I call our “Ark”. That Ark of excess vacant housing can now be deployed with the assistance of FEMA and HUD and other governmental programs to help our struggling island neighbors.

Thus, once again not even the best economists could have anticipated the economic impact both good and bad that such an unthinkable crisis can have to a community. I do hope that with so many vacant homes and condos now in South Florida, and many still owned by the Banks, that we will be able to utilize this housing reserve.

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Posted in Entrepreneurial News, Florida foreclosures, Florida Law News, Florida real estate | 3 Comments »

Oppenheim Law on South Florida Mortgage Morals and Ethics: To Strategically Walk or Not?

Monday, January 11th, 2010
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NYT Magazine Writer Roger Lowenstein hits it on the head when he takes Mortgage Bankers to task, Plus why I believe MBA President John Courson is WRONG and CLUELESS

Roger Lowenstein, an extremely well respected financial journalist took the trade association for mortgage bankers (the MBA) to task in Sunday’s New York Times Magazine for calling homeowners “immoral” who strategically walk away from their mortgage obligations. Lowenstein points out that Wall Street walks away from their obligations all the time and effectively asks how they dare call the kettle black.

New York Times Magazine: Walk Away from Your Mortgage

For more than a year now through the South Florida Law Blog, monthly Florida foreclosure defense workshops and social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter @OPLaw, Oppenheim Law continues to help homeowners and other real estate holders such as investors and second homeowners. A constant and key consideration is determining the sense of continuing to pay a mortgage that is upside down and may remain that way for many years to come.

Oppenheim Law believes foreclosure defense strategies are not a moral issue, but an issue of what is economically rational. However, John Courson, President of the Mortgage Bankers Association, decided this past week to enter into the discussion when he was quoted in the WSJ as saying: “Homeowners should think about the ‘message” they will send to their families and their kids and their friends.” He was somehow trying to convince all of us that there is still a social stigma to walking away.

JOHN COURSON READ MY WORDS: YOU ARE SO WRONG…. IN FACT YOU DON’T EVEN HAVE A CLUE!

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Posted in Florida foreclosures, Florida real estate, Foreclosure Defense, Mortgage Bankers Association, Roy Oppenheim | 5 Comments »

New Year: New Rules – Florida Supreme Court Requires Mediation in Foreclosure

Tuesday, January 5th, 2010
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Just as 2009 ended, the Florida Supreme Court announced a uniform procedure for all newly filed foreclosure cases for homestead properties. While the procedure is not yet fully in place, it should be shortly.

The Court acknowledged the system is not working. Foreclosure filings are expected to reach 456,000 cases in Florida by the end of 2010, a 50% increase from those in 2009. Thus, the Court felt compelled to do something.

My free foreclosure and real estate workshop on Thursday, January 7, at 6 p.m. is designed to review the “Year That Was” and preview the “Year That Will Be” based on the New Rules for 2010.

These new rules mean banks will be taken to task by the legal system. If conducted properly, a homeowner can demand proof of the Note and ownership of the loan prior to mediation. If the bank does not show up at the mediation or does not have a person with “true” authority to settle the case, the Court can issues sanctions against the bank and even hit the bank with attorney’s fees in some instances.

Until now approximately 75% of cases in mediation settled. That number should now shrink since the system will soon be overloaded with mediations. The real question is how to take control of this new strategic tool. Of course, one has to be mindful of the old saying, “Be careful what you ask for.” That will certainly be the situation here.

You need to know your objective and have a plan or strategy. Is your desire to walk away without the bank coming after you, or is it to stay and renegotiate the loan to its new underwater value? Or is it to rent the house and just be able to stay?
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Posted in Florida foreclosures, Florida Law News, Florida real estate, Florida short sales, Florida Supreme Court, Foreclosure Defense, Foreclosure Workshop | 7 Comments »

Oppenheim Law Makes the National Law Journal List!

Friday, January 1st, 2010
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Who 
would ever have thought that WE…and that includes YOU… all my blog, Facebook and Twitter 
friends…. would become the 4th most important legal trend of the decade.

Check out The National Law Journal’s excerpt on The 25 Legal Stories That Defined The Decade. Social Media was #4 and I shared my thoughts with The National Law Journal’s Tresa Baldis about it in this link…

http://oppenheimlaw.com/media-coverage.php?new_id=96

Thank YOU for the friends, follows and shares.

What a way to start the New Year!

Cheers!

Roy

P.S. Bail out the New Year with me at my Free Foreclosure Defense Workshop on January 7th from 6-7 pm

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Posted in Florida Law News, Foreclosure Workshop, social media | No Comments »

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