South Florida Law Blog

Judge Signs $25 Billion Foreclosure Settlement It’s finally official. The so-called $25 billion foreclosure settlement has been signed off by a federal judge. This comes after the settlement was filed in court last month. DC District Judge Rosemary Collyer did the honors Wednesday. I won’t rehash my thoughts about what’s good and what’s bad about this settlement. Everything that needs […]

Excuse me Jamie. Mr. Dimon, hello? Do you really still think we’re fools? How else can you explain your half-hearted apology over JP Morgan’s part in the robosigning scandal? The CEO of JP Morgan Chase made some efforts towards reconciliation in his annual letter to shareholders, which is now out for all to see. But it’s clear that Jamie Dimon […]

Bill extends Mortgage Debt Relief Act of 2007 I warned you earlier this month that if you’re considering a short sale, the time to get the ball rolling is now. That’s because the Mortgage Debt Relief Act, which was passed in 2007, is set to expire at the end of this year. If that happens you’ll have to pay taxes […]

Too Big To Fail used to be a joke. It became an insult hurled by Occupy Wall Street or the Tea Party at the big banks, but that’s all it was. It was never an expression that had any legitimacy. It was just a nice little way for the media to classify the banking industry in a ready-made slogan. Guess […]

Could Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac finally be willing to sign off on principal reduction as a way to keep homeowners out of foreclosure and in their homes? Edward DeMarco, the acting head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and de facto leader of the two GSEs has been steadfast in his opposition. President Obama has made principal reduction priority […]

Banking officials, as a general rule, are old school. They are very resistant to change, and usually refuse to think outside of the box. Over the years I’ve seen the banks hold little to no regard for the customers they serve. Their philosophy has essentially been ‘You can’t pay your mortgage, then out on your butt you go!’ Forget that […]

Well what do you know. Earlier this week I blogged about the mortgage settlement documents and their stunning lack of detail on the frauds committed by the banks during the days of robosigning. I was frustrated because it seems like the complete recklessness of the banks was being whitewashed in order for the settlement to go through. Turns out I […]

Bank of America to Reduce Principal For 200,000 Underwater Homeowners First some good news, if you’ve got an underwater mortgage owned by Bank of America. BofA has come to a separate agreement with the US government to to help reduce some the fines it owes to the Housing and Urban Development Agency from last month’s huge settlement. Bank of America […]