Archive for the ‘Florida Law News’ Category
Thursday, August 26th, 2010
The housing news reports existing home sales fell sharply in July, declining for a third straight month, as the effects of the expired homebuyer tax credit continued to add turbulence to the housing market. Consumers are now clearly entering into a new economic era where homes are no longer an appreciating asset. Oppenheim Law teaches Florida homeowners the latest legal strategies of foreclosure defense including strategic defaults, short sales, deeds in lieu and deficiency judgments.
Florida Real Estate Attorney and Legal Blogger Roy Oppenheim discusses the current deflationary economy and what new rules homeowners need to learn. Getting rid of devaluing assets (like a home) and conserving cash is a strategy Oppenheim discusses in his real estate workshops.
What: ABC’s and D for Deflation Foreclosure Defense Workshop
When: Wednesday, September 1, 2010 – 6:00 to 7:00 PM
Who: Learn the new way of thinking for a new economy! Homeowners facing foreclosure or underwater mortgages, real estate professionals, buyers and sellers
Where: The Oppenheim Law Online Stream
Or come in person
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
Oppenheim Law will broadcast September’s Foreclosure Workshop online through the Oppenheim Law Strategic Default Channel. Participants are invited to ask questions and comment on the presentation through Oppenheim Law’s Twitter account @OPLaw. For more details see the Oppenheim Law Website.
Tags: Florida foreclosures, Foreclosure Defense, Oppenheim Law, Roy Oppenheim
Posted in Deed in Lieu, Ellen Pilelsky, Florida Law News, Florida real estate, Florida short sales, Foreclosure Workshop, Roy Oppenheim | View Comments
Monday, August 16th, 2010
The Sun Sentinel’s real estate writer Paul Owers noted RealtyTrac Inc report last Thursday that foreclosure filings spiked last month in Palm Beach County as a backlog of pending cases abruptly moved through the court system.
The county had 3,759 homeowners in some stage of foreclosure in July, up 77 percent from June and 42 percent from a year ago. Palm Beach County had the 11th-highest foreclosure rate of Florida’s 67 counties.
Foreclosure defense attorney and legal blogger Roy Oppenheim told the Sun Sentinel he is noticing expensive mortgages going into default more frequently.
“This is like the second shoe dropping,” he said. “A lot of people with higher incomes have been seriously, seriously hurt.”
Want to learn more about mediation and foreclosure? Join Oppenheim Law for our free monthly foreclosure defense workshop the first Wednesday of each month and check out the entire Sun-Sentinel foreclosure story in the Oppenheim Law Newsroom. Find Oppenheim Law on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for up-to-the-minute real estate news.
Tags: florida foreclosure, Florida Foreclosure Defense, Florida real estate attorney, Foreclosure Defense, Foreclosures in Palm Beach County, free foreclosure workshop, Oppenheim Law, Paul Owers, Real Estate, real estate attorney, Roy Oppenheim, Sun Sentinel
Posted in Florida Law News, Florida foreclosures, Florida real estate, Foreclosure Defense, Sun Sentinel | View Comments
Friday, August 13th, 2010
Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum has issued subpoenas to three South Florida foreclosure law firms seeking detailed financial, client and employee records.
McCollum’s economic crimes division is investigating the Law Offices of David J. Stern of Plantation, the Law Offices of Marshall C. Watson of Fort Lauderdale and Shapiro & Fishman of Boca Raton and Tampa for possible unfair and deceptive actions in handling foreclosure cases.
Florida attorneys including foreclosure defense attorney and legal blogger Roy Oppenheim questioned the timing of the investigation, suggesting it was politically motivated by McCollum, a Republican candidate for governor. In a Mason-Dixon poll taken only a week ago, McCollum trailed by 6 points – 31 percent to 37 percent.
“Why didn’t he do this two years ago?” Oppenheim asked. “He knows the allegations have been out there. He knows complaints have been made. I think the timing is a little off. I’m thrilled he’s doing this, but I would have preferred he do this one-and-a-half years ago. Many people who didn’t have attorneys didn’t have the support of his office.”
Oppenheim also wishes McCollum would extend his investigation to lenders and mortgage holders for filing faulty foreclosures.
“He’s investigating the law firms, but he should be investigating the banks,” Oppenheim said. “He should also be looking into banks trespassing onto peoples’ properties. The law firms are the scapegoats. I see them as pawns.”
Check out the entire Daily Business Review article in the Oppenheim Law Newsroom
Tags: Daily Business Review, Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum, florida foreclosure, Florida Foreclosure Defense, Florida real estate, Oppenheim Law, real estate attorney, Roy Oppenheim, south florida real estate
Posted in Daily Business Review, Florida Law News, Florida foreclosures, Florida real estate, Foreclosure Defense, Roy Oppenheim | View Comments
Saturday, August 7th, 2010
Homeownership Reaches Record Lows
According to new industry estimates, millions of houses on the verge of foreclosure could send homeownership to its lowest level since 1960.
Long considered a cornerstone of the American dream, homeownership has been sliding since the housing bubble burst in 2006. New projections say the rate could plummet to about 62%, compared with 69.4% in 2004. Homeownership rates haven’t been that low since 1960, when they hit 61.9%.
14 Million Underwater, Deutsche Banks Predicts 20% Increase by 2011
In other real estate news, more than 14 million homeowners are underwater on their mortgage today and Deutsche Bank expects that number to increase to 20 million by the end of 2011. The bank also expects a rise in strategic defaults.
Foreclosure Workshop Shares Tips to Learn from the Wealthy
Roy Oppenheim shared what homeowners can learn from the wealthy during his monthly Strategic Foreclosure Workshop this week. Hundreds participated as Oppenheim shed some light on strategic defaults, short sales and loan modifications strategies.
Tags: Florida foreclosures, Foreclosure News, Homeownership Reaches Record Lows, Learn from the Wealthy on Strategic Foreclosure, New Industry Estimates, Oppenheim Law, Real Estate News, Roy Oppenheim, South Florida short sales, strategic default, Strategic Foreclosures, Video on Foreclosures, Video Workshop
Posted in Florida Law News, Florida foreclosures, Foreclosure Workshop, Roy Oppenheim, short sales, strategic default | View Comments
Thursday, July 1st, 2010
The Miami Herald is reporting the flood of South Florida foreclosures is receding in the first five months of 2010 as foreclosure filings have fallen sharply and efforts to ease the courts’ backlogs are kicking in. But Oppenheim Law isn’t so sure the decreases are going to last and believes the next big wave of filings will come soon.
Foreclosure defense attorney and legal blogger Roy Oppenheim shared his thoughts on the Florida Supreme Court’s mandated mediation process with Miami Herald writer Harris Meyer in an article published on Sunday about Florida foreclosures.
“I enjoy mediations and find them very effective,” Oppenheim said. “But I won’t mediate unless the bank has done its homework.”
Oppenheim went on to explain mediation can be successful for homeowners and the banks only if the mediator is skilled, the lender has read the documentation and also knows the value of the property and the holding costs.
Oppenheim’s comments follow the news that foreclosure filings in Broward have fallen from 51,670 in 2009 to 17,565 in the first five months of 2010. However, as Oppenheim Law explained on the South Florida Law Blog in May, this decrease in Florida foreclosure filings can probably be attributed to the new rules promulgated by the Florida Supreme Court requiring every residential mortgage foreclosure complaint must be verified and prove that the plaintiff is the actual owner and holder of the promissory note.
Oppenheim Law wrote, “Until now, banks have been abusing a Florida statute allowing them to file a foreclosure based on a “lost note.” The problem: the notes aren’t lost; the banks are just too lazy to look for them. This new rule is halting foreclosure filings in their tracks, as banks scramble to find the notes so they can foreclose.”
Also less encouraging is the fact that commercial foreclosures are increasing, and concerns of increased residential foreclosures due to the re-setting of rates under adjustable-rate mortgages may accelerate, according to the Herald.
Want to learn more about mediation and foreclosure? Join Oppenheim Law for our free monthly foreclosure defense workshop next Wednesday, July 7 @ 6 pm and check out the entire Miami Herald foreclosure story in the Oppenheim Law Newsroom.
Tags: Florida Supreme Court, Foreclosure Defense, foreclosure filings, foreclosure mediation, Harris Meyer, Miami Herald, Oppenheim Law, promissory note, Roy Oppenheim, South Florida Law Blog
Posted in Florida Law News, Florida Supreme Court, Florida real estate, Foreclosure Defense, Miami Herald, Roy Oppenheim, The Miami Herald | View Comments
Friday, June 25th, 2010
Is strategic default nearing its peak? Oppenheim Law doesn’t think so.
Pointing to recent positive indicators in the economy and real estate market, today’s Daily Business Review poses this question to foreclosure defense attorney Roy Oppenheim in today’s Economic Outlook.
Signals of stabilization in South Florida real estate include:
- The Florida Association of Realtors reported May data showing year-over-year increases in the median prices of single-family home sales.
- Default Research of Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania, reported that initial foreclosure filings in Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties fell 51 percent in May, compared with April.
A turnaround in home prices could eliminate the incentive to voluntarily enter foreclosure through strategic defaults. “If prices start going up, they wouldn’t be upside-down anymore,” Oppenheim said in the Daily Business Review. “But I don’t see that happening for awhile.”
Check out the entire Daily Business Review article in the Oppenheim Law Newsroom.
Tags: Daily Business Review, Economic Outlook, Florida foreclosures, foreclosure filings, Oppenheim Law, Roy Oppenheim, strategic defaults, Strategic Foreclosures
Posted in Daily Business Review, Florida Law News, Florida foreclosures, Florida real estate, Foreclosure Defense, Roy Oppenheim | View Comments
Wednesday, June 16th, 2010
A Foreclosure Tsunami is overwhelming South Florida courts, writes Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel reporter Harriet Johnson Brackey.
Florida real estate attorney and legal blogger Roy Oppenheim contributed to the report, which explains how a tenfold increase in foreclosure cases over the past five years is crippling the South Florida court system.
According to Oppenheim Law, South Florida courts have turned to mediation, a process prior to foreclosure proceedings that gives homeowners and banks an opportunity to avoid a battle in court if an agreement on the future of the property and debt can be reached. The problem, though, is most homeowners are not aware they now have a right to mediation.
“Mediation makes all the difference in the world,” Oppenheim says. “There are so many opportunities to resolve matters in mediation, a lot of creative ways.”
Check out the entire Foreclosure Tsunami article in Oppenheim Law’s Newsroom to find out the state’s plan to eliminate half of the foreclosure backlog by the end of the year.
Tags: foreclosure backlog, Foreclosure Defense, foreclosure proceedings, foreclosure tsunami, foreclosures, Harriet Johnson Brackey, mediation, Oppenheim Law, real estate attorney, Roy Oppenheim, South Florida courts, Sun Sentinel
Posted in Florida Law News, Florida Supreme Court, Florida foreclosures, Florida real estate, Foreclosure Defense, Roy Oppenheim, Sun Sentinel | View Comments
Monday, June 14th, 2010
Aside from acting as counsel on short sales, foreclosure defense and strategic defaults, Weston real estate attorney Roy Oppenheim is bestowing a sense relief to South Florida’s underwater homeowners.
As Oppenheim Law mentioned in our Shay’s Rebellion 2.0 Workshop Recap, Sun-Sentinel real estate writer Paul Owers was on hand, working on a feature article of Oppenheim and the firm’s foreclosure defense strategies.
The article highlights Oppenheim Law’s monthly foreclosure defense workshops, explains the firm’s entry into foreclosure defense practice and describes the positive effects Oppenheim Law’s services are providing for homeowners struggling to make their monthly mortgage payments.
Check out the entire Sun-Sentinel article in Oppenheim Law’s Newsroom and be sure to leave your comments below!
Tags: Foreclosure Defense, foreclosure defense strategies, Oppenheim Law, Paul Owers, Roy Oppenheim, Shay's Rebellion 2.0, short sales, strategic default, strategic forelcosures, Sun Sentinel, underwater homeowners, Weston real estate attorney
Posted in Florida Law News, Florida foreclosures, Florida real estate, Foreclosure Defense, Foreclosure Workshop, Roy Oppenheim, Sun Sentinel, strategic default | View Comments
Thursday, June 3rd, 2010
Taking after Britney Spear’s colossal “Oops…I did it again” hit song from 2000, Bank of America has accidentally foreclosed on a home for the third time in less than a year!
“I honestly felt like Bank of America was trying to steal my property”, said Nancy Willmes, who had paid cash for her home from Fannie Mae, who had foreclosed on the previous owner.
This growing problem is caused by the massive increase in foreclosure proceedings lenders have seen in the past few years. The numbers are startling, and there has been over a 400% increase in foreclosure filings in Florida since 2007.
This enormous increase has not only affected the already bogged down “Big Banks” but has also put a serious strain on our legal system, that at times appears to have been transformed into a private collections agency. In fact, several months ago the Miami-Dade Clerk of the Court’s Office erred in a foreclosure action and had a woman and her family literally thrown into the street by police officers after they auctioned off her $260,000 home for $87,000. A Judge quickly reversed the sale, but the family was left homeless for 24 hours.
Tags: accidentally foreclosed, Bank of America, fannie mae, Florida foreclosures, foreclosure, foreclosure filings, foreclosure proceedings, Oppenheim Law, Roy Oppenheim
Posted in Florida Law News, Florida foreclosures, Florida real estate, Foreclosure Defense, Roy Oppenheim | View Comments
The housing news reports existing home sales fell sharply in July, declining for a third straight month, as the effects of the expired homebuyer tax credit continued to add turbulence to the housing market. Consumers are now clearly entering into a new economic era where homes are no longer an appreciating asset. Oppenheim Law teaches Florida homeowners the latest legal strategies of foreclosure defense including strategic defaults, short sales, deeds in lieu and deficiency judgments.
