Archive for the ‘Florida foreclosures’ Category
Saturday, February 20th, 2010
Rock the vote! Voting is underway for The Sun-Sentinel’s Best of Blogs Awards and Oppenheim Law’s South Florida Law Blog received a nomination in the Business Blog Category.
The South Florida Law Blog is committed to bringing timely news and advice to our readers as we work together to survive this treacherous real estate market.
You can vote once a day for your favorite blog (Hopefully ours!) after registering for a free Sun-Sentinel account here. Voting ends March 1st.
We appreciate your continued support, feedback and comments and look forward to bringing you the latest and greatest in Florida foreclosure defense and real estate trends.
Tags: Best of Blogs Awards, Florida Foreclosure Defense, Oppenheim Law, Real Estate, South Florida Law Blog, Sun Sentinel
Posted in Florida foreclosures, Florida Law News, Florida real estate, Foreclosure Defense, social media, Sun Sentinel | No Comments »
Saturday, February 13th, 2010
The Silver Lining of this Foreclosure Crisis From the Heart
Thanks for your positive feedback on our new column. This post is the second for Oppenheim Law’s senior partner, Ellen Pilelsky, as she discusses Florida real estate and foreclosure, sharing her perspective “From the Heart.”
Some say there is a reason for everything and that we can control our own lives. Both of these thoughts come to mind when I watch Allstate’s recent “Our Stand” ad campaign.
I’ve now watched this short video a few times, and each time I am so moved that I felt compelled to share it with you. The video drives home the point that even through these difficult economic times, we all can and will make it through.
It’s up to us to deal with and rise from the challenges we face today.
There is hope. We all just need to look at our lives and make changes that need to be made. As long as we are able to recognize what is really the most important things in our life, like family and friends, then we can avoid getting bogged down with “all the other stuff.”
The Silver Lining
There has to be a true silver lining to this foreclosure crisis.
I believe that our children will learn from these challenging times to live on what they earn and not beyond their means. They will become our future leaders in just a few short years and they will bring that old fashioned American Ideal to Washington and to the State Capitals. Soon our governments will learn to do with less, but still provide the essential services we need. We all just have to believe.
(more…)
Tags: Ellen Pilelsky, Florida real estate, Foreclosure Defense, From the Heart, Gretchen Rubin, Oppenheim Law, Roy Oppenheim, The Happiness Project
Posted in Ellen Pilelsky, Florida foreclosures, Florida real estate, Foreclosure Defense, From the Heart | 4 Comments »
Friday, February 12th, 2010
Roy Oppenheim Tells SFBJ: It’s a Year Late!
Oppenheim Law has been arguing for creative and practical solutions that benefit banks and homeowners alike for more than two years. Finally, while curiously late into the game, CitiMortgage announces a trial deed-in-lieu mortgage program allowing homeowners to avoid the painful foreclosure process.
The deed-in-lieu program allows Florida homeowners facing foreclosure to remain in their homes for 6 months, in exchange for signing over their deeds to CitiMortgage at the end of the period.
Check out Roy Oppenheim’s opinion on the CitiMortgage announcement by reading the entire article in the Oppenheim Law News Room.
Tags: CitiMortgage, Deed in Lieu, Oppenheim Law, Oppenheim Law News Room, Roy Oppenheim, South Florida Business Journal
Posted in Deed in Lieu, Florida foreclosures, Florida Law News, Florida real estate, Foreclosure Defense, Roy Oppenheim, South Florida Business Journal | 2 Comments »
Wednesday, February 10th, 2010
Great news for real estate investors and flippers who were once restricted with the 90 day FHA anti-flipping regulations. Due to the increase in the volume of foreclosures over the past two years, the Department of Housing and Urban Development recently announced that they are waiving the 90 day flipping regulations in 24 CFR
Tags: 90 day restriction, fha, fha mortgages, flippers, flipping, Florida real estate, HUD, real estate investors, short sale, Short Sales
Posted in Entrepreneurial News, flipping, Florida foreclosures, Florida Law News, Florida real estate, Florida short sales, Real Estate Closings | No Comments »
Tuesday, February 9th, 2010
By Roy Oppenheim
Oppenheim Law marked its 16th Monthly legal real estate workshop last Thursday and thanks to you – our readers – who attended or brought a friend, we continue to evaluate the real estate market.
For those not able to make the event, I have two pieces of good news for you:
- Oppenheim Law is already preparing for our next free real estate workshop scheduled on Wednesday, March 3.
- We have a recap of the workshop’s timely highlights
The most important message: things are changing.
- 70% of foreclosure cases that go to mediation are settled.
- Walking away from an underwater mortgage is no longer a moral decision. The banks were allowed to walk away from their monumental debt and write it off as a “business decision.” Why can’t homeowners do the same?
- The crisis in Haiti will likely have an influence on the South Florida real estate landscape. Florida saw similar results after Hurricane Andrew when folks were searching for new places to live. Black Swan events like these are important to consider and watch.
Oppenheim Law stresses the importance of helping homeowners avoid deficiency judgments at all costs. Ignoring the foreclosure notice or moving out is perhaps not the best possible decision you can make.
(more…)
Tags: black swan, deficiency judgments, Florida foreclosure workshop, Foreclosure Defense, legal real estate workshop, Oppenheim Law, Roy Oppenheim, social stigma
Posted in Florida foreclosures, Florida Law News, Florida real estate, Florida short sales, Florida Supreme Court, Foreclosure Defense, Foreclosure Workshop, Roy Oppenheim, Short Sales | 2 Comments »
Saturday, February 6th, 2010
By Ellen Pilelsky
Many of you have been reading Attorney Roy Oppenheim’s “From the Trenches” series over the past year as he details his experiences as Florida foreclosure defense attorney. This post is the first for Oppenheim Law’s senior partner, Ellen Pilelsky, as she discusses Florida real estate and foreclosure, sharing her perspective “From the Heart.”
The Mortgage Bankers Association wants to know what folks in foreclosure should tell their kids.
I usually remain behind the blogging scenes, but this is my first attempt to share my views as a woman, mother and foreclosure defense attorney about how the world has changed and why we need to understand how to cope.
Last month John Courson, President of the Mortgage Bankers Association, said he had no idea what individuals were going to tell their children about why they stopped paying their mortgage. He suggested people who are in foreclosure are somehow immoral.
My response is simple:
- Never be judgmental towards others, for then you too will be judged: and
- Never, ever, throw stones when you yourself live in glass house.
The MBA arguably represents the very folks who brought us the current economic crisis. Perhaps worse than that, Mr. Courson has a less than stellar record himself of “doing the right thing,” as was well articulated by some of the subscribers to Oppenheim Law’s South Florida Law Blog.
The reality is we need to help our children understand that:
Wherever you move, or wherever we as a family move, we will always have a home. A house is just made of bricks and lumber, but the things that make it a home are the family and the memories we create together wherever we live.
(more…)
Tags: Ellen Pilelsky, Florida Foreclosure Defense, Florida real estate, From the Heart, John Courson, Mortgage Bankers Association, Oppenheim Law, Roy Oppenheim
Posted in Ellen Pilelsky, Florida foreclosures, From the Heart, Mortgage Bankers Association | 2 Comments »
Friday, January 29th, 2010
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
Tags: florida foreclosure, Making Home Affordable, mortgage modification, Oppenheim Law, principal reduction, Roy Oppenheim, The Miami Herald
Posted in Florida foreclosures, Florida Law News, Florida real estate, Foreclosure Defense, Loan Modification, Roy Oppenheim, The Miami Herald | 1 Comment »
