The South Florida Business Journal caught up with Weston Title and Oppenheim Law to get Roy Oppenheim’s opinion on a recent mortgage deal.
Banks giving their employees sweetheart deals on financial products is nothing new. Recently, Great Florida Bank COO, Masood Ghomeshi experienced one of the perks of being a bank employee by landing a loan modification that many consider to be a good deal. According to sources, Ghomeshi’s was able to change the terms of his $652,000 home loan with Great Florida Bank so that he is only required to pay the interest on the loan for the next three years. This will effectively reduce his monthly mortgage bill by $1,500 every month.
But foreclosure defense and real estate attorney, Roy Oppenheim, disagrees that Ghomeshi got as good a deal as everyone thinks. He has seen other people get better interest rates than those afforded to Masood Ghomeshi. Additionally, “Many people can’t get this deal because they can’t get the attention of banks,” says Oppenheim. In order to get their bank to work with them, Oppenheim says most people have to default on their loans. This doesn’t appear to be the case with Ghomeshi.
Terrence Brown, a spokesperson for the bank, stated that Great Florida Bank has a loan modification program available for their customers. However, according to banking attorney Andrew Hall, the bank must make the same terms they gave Ghomeshi available to all of their customers. Additionally, since it is an insider loan over $25,000, the deal must be approved by the bank’s board.
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My good friend, Julie Kay, recently wrote a South Florida Business Journal story on the mixed reviews for the government’s Home Affordable Modification Program, or HAMP, as legislators like to call it.
