On location in Boston, Real Estate Attorney and Legal Blogger Roy Oppenheim talks about the real estate market and what to expect from the new deflationary economy.
Tune in Wednesday night. Oppenheim highlights the new rules homeowners need to learn in a Back to School Workshop.
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
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 TV Channel. Participants are invited to ask questions and comment on the presentation through chat or Oppenheim Law’s Twitter account @OPLaw. For more details see the Oppenheim Law Website.
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.
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.”
Underwater on your mortgage? It seems like regardless of financial or social status, someone is upside down, underwater or ready to walk.
July 7th is your chance to get answers to your real estate questions as Roy Oppenheim hosts his free monthly Foreclosure Workshop LIVE ONLINE and in Weston, FL.
Join Oppenheim, recently profiled in the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, tomorrow night as he explains why homeowners on the verge of Shay’s Rebellion 2.0 hold the power and means to fashion their own financial bailout.
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
Unable to make it to Weston or want to watch from home? Simply visit www.oppenheimlaw.payperlive.com at 6 PM tomorrow night to participate in the commercial-free high quality broadcast. Ask questions and get answers just like you were in the live audience.
Check out the video below for a preview of the Foreclosure Workshop and Oppenheim Law looks forward to seeing you tomorrow night!
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.
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.”
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.
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!
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.
Greed, games, and the American banks. Roy Oppenheim discussed the silent strategic foreclosure revolution of up-in-arm homeowners last night.
As frustrated homeowners tuned in online through the OPLaw Foreclosure Defense UStream Channel, Oppenheim Law marked its 18th Legal Real Estate Workshop amidst a live audience and Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel reporters.
For one week only, you can view the workshop on the South Florida Law Blog. This is your chance to hear Oppenheim explain strategic default, short sales, foreclosure defense and the real estate revolution he has dubbed “Shay’s Rebellion 2.0.”
We’ll be answering some of our Foreclosure Workshops’ frequently asked questions next week so be on the look out for that post. Feel free to add your own questions as comments on the blog!
Be sure to tune in next month on July 7 for the next Strategic Foreclosure Workshop hosted by Roy Oppenheim and for all the Foursquare users out there, start Checking In with Oppenheim Law and watch for Tips if you’re in the area!
Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum has issued subpoenas to three South Florida foreclosure law firms seeking detailed financial, client and employee records.
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!
Greed, games, and the American banks. 
