South Florida Law Blog

There are quite a few people who advocate principal reduction as the best way to get out of the housing crisis. Their arguments were succinctly laid out and analyzed in an Atlanta Federal Reserve white paper. Advocates of such a policy argue that it would be cheaper for banks to reduce the principal of a loan to the current value […]

Three cheers for Sheila Bair, the former head of the FDIC and a true advocate for the little guy, who resigned this week on July 8th. She fought for what is right for the homeowner, the depositor and the taxpayer. Shelia was probably the only person in the Obama administration who really “got it.” As a financial regulator, she understood […]

It’s a case of: The Three Stooges and Mediation. Roy Oppenheim and his client shared their recent story in this week’s Daily Business Review with an inside look at the trials and tribulations of a system where one asks: Who is on first? Under a state Supreme Court order issued 18 months ago, banks have been paying third-party mediators to […]

‘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. […]

Mortgage Rates Set Fresh 2011 Low After Jobs Report Fixed rate home mortgage loans dropped for the eighth straight week to a new low for 2011 amid concerns of another economic slowdown this year, according to data from Freddie Mac and a report by The Wall Street Journal. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.49%, down from 4.55% last week and […]

It’s still a buyer’s market. That’s the conclusion of consumers in a new Gallup poll that reveals 67 percent of Americans feel now is a “good time” to buy a house. That hasn’t changed much since April 2009. So despite harder-to-come-by financing and the possibility of a housing double-dip, it seems historically low interest rates and bargain basement home prices […]

Today, Weston Title and Oppenheim Law completed one of the largest short sales with JP Morgan Chase. The original note was approximately $6 million, but the bank approved a payoff for almost half that amount. The bank agreed to the haircut in exchange for receiving the $3 million in proceeds. Further, the bank waived the deficiency judgment demonstrating what Roy […]

By Roy Oppenheim We’re just half way through the first month of 2011 and foreclosure fraud continues to make headline news. Tonight Oppenheim Law will be in Boca Raton hosting our monthly foreclosure defense workshop “The Future of Foreclosures”. Will this be the year of the short sale? How will the Feds help (or not help)? What is the best […]