South Florida Law Blog

‘Hope’ stands as a fleeting memory for most Americans as unemployment stagnates, housing prices fall and economic growth looms as a lofty promise unfulfilled. And as we get closer to the 2012 Presidential Election, it’s becoming clear that the ideological political landscape that dominated the 2008 election cycle will be eclipsed by a menacing elephant in the room: the economy. […]

The good: All we can say is, you never know! When the real estate market collapsed, Miami’s downtown epitomized the worst excesses of the building boom. Glittering new towers sat mostly vacant. Today Miami’s downtown real estate is booming and bustling with life and commerce thanks to foreign investors and renters. A report by the Miami Downtown Development Authority indicates […]

What is killing Florida real estate? Excess inventories and falling home prices. House prices have been continuously falling for the first time in 70 years, and South Florida homeowners should expect the trend to continue. A surplus inventory of houses caused by Florida foreclosures and short sales is the mortal enemy of home prices. Lower prices are needed to sell […]

Wall Street corruption blurs the lines between good guys and bad guys as this week’s headlines bubble to the top. Unbelievably guilty in the court of public opinion. Now ultimately guilty in a court of law. The conviction of Galleon hedge fund billionaire Raj Rajaratnam on all 14 counts of conspiracy and securities fraud is a prime example of rampant […]

Financial Times Headline: Caution urged on US bank foreclosure fines Who gets the golden ticket? We all remember the deserving Charlie Bucket inside the chocolate factory of the eccentric chocolatier, Willy Wonka. In the end, Charlie gets the Chocolate Factory and the golden ticket. This week’s Financial Times writer Tom Braithwaite reported a story: Caution urged on US bank foreclosure […]

The question of the decade: Why isn’t Wall Street in jail? In a typical jaw-dropping article for Rolling Stone Magazine The Real Housewives of Wall Street, Matt Taibbi reveals the shocking practices of the Federal Reserve during the Great Recession. With the nation staggering, the Federal Reserve took it upon itself to lend trillions of dollars at nearly zero percent […]

Who would ever have thought that the most respected names on Wall Street would cheat the house by playing with a marked deck? Dear Wall Street: We’re not in Vegas anymore! The Sin City “players” of Wall Street might be trading in the fancy hotel rooms for prison cells. The SEC is now following the Federal Reserve and the Senate […]

The Florida Court system, including judges, nearly faced mandatory furloughs and unpaid vacations due to an emergency shortfall in its budget. Court employees faced up to 30 days of unpaid vacation through the end of May. The reason for the short fall was the precipitous drop in foreclosure filings, which generated the fees the courts relied upon for the majority […]