Archive for the ‘Sun Sentinel’ Category

Sun-Sentinel: Foreclosures Jump 77 % in Palm Beach County, Oppenheim Says Expensive Mortgages Going into Default More Frequently

Monday, August 16th, 2010
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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.

Sun-Sentinel Business Blogs to Like, Follow and Comment

Monday, July 19th, 2010
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As housing sales hit an all time low, The South Florida Law Blog and Oppenheim Law bring our readers a fresh perspective on the Florida real estate landscape and legal trends. We also serve as an expert source to local and national media outlets.

Investing, renting, buying or selling real estate in today’s market is a tricky course to follow, we know, we’re on the frontlines and in the trenches defending homeowners.

So we wanted to take note of the other excellent resources and personalities to follow in the news. House Keys, written by Sun-Sentinel real estate reporter Paul Owers, and It’s Your Money, written by Sun-Sentinel personal finance reporter Harriet Johnson Brackey.

Connected to Oppenheim Law on Twitter, @OPLaw? You can follow Paul Owers, @paulowers, and Harriet Johnson Brackey, @HarrietBrackey, as well for the latest in business news and views on personal finance, real estate and foreclosure defense.

Have a favorite source for legal advice, real estate tips or personal finance? Share it in the comments section!

Today’s Sun-Sentinel Florida Foreclosure Report , Roy Oppenheim Contributes to Story

Wednesday, June 16th, 2010
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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.

fl-foreclosure-court-060810b

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.

Sun-Sentinel Highlights Florida Attorney Roy Oppenheim + Strategic Default

Monday, June 14th, 2010
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Roy Oppenheim Strategic Default Sun-Sentinel

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!

Roy Oppenheim Foreclosure Defense Sun Sentinel

Real Estate Rewind! Oppenheim’s Strategic Foreclosure Workshop Replay

Thursday, June 3rd, 2010
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RoyOppenheimPaulOwersRealEstateGreed, 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!

Broadcasting Live with Ustream.TV

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!

Show me the Note! Oppenheim Law Explains New FL Supreme Court Ruling

Wednesday, May 26th, 2010
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2004109385Taking a page from Cuba Gooding, Jr. in the movie Jerry Maguire, a new rule in South Florida courts has homeowners and foreclosure defense attorneys screaming: “SHOW! ME! THE! NOTE!!!”

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.

Before, foreclosure mills were simply filing a complaint and claiming a ‘”lost note,” without actually ever looking for it. Now, the courts are requiring attorneys to prove the banks have at least attempted to find the note. Prior to this rule, banks would file the complaint, and the note would always mysteriously appear four months later IN ALMOST EVERY CASE.

An article published today in The Sun-Sentinel found foreclosure filings have dropped 36% since last month in South Florida. Local attorneys and judges are attributing this to the colossal mess at the banks, as they scramble to find the notes.

Before, they had plenty of time to look for it. Now, they can’t do anything without it. While this might seem like good news for the overwhelmed court system, in reality it is simply delaying the inevitable. Like the receding waters before a tsunami, we can expect a substantial increase in filings once the banks begin finding these “lost notes,” and then the entire system could drown.

Anthony DiMarco of the Florida Bankers Association sees it a bit differently, claiming the decrease in filings is due to the banks’ increased number of loan modifications, and an increased willingness to approve short sales.

tsunamiGIVE ME A BREAK!

Based on raw numbers, DiMarco is dead wrong! Although Obama’s Making Home Affordable plan had promised over 3 million loan modifications by now, in reality the banks have accepted only 300,000. Furthermore, of these 300,000, only 13,059 were in South Florida. Thus, it is ridiculous to say the banks are being more cooperative.

Maybe DiMarco has never tried to call a bank to discuss a short sale or loan modification. If he had, he would likely find that being on hold for hours at a time, having the bank tell you they have lost your sensitive financial documents, and being constantly hung up upon, is not exactly “cooperation.” If DiMarco actually believes what he is saying, he should stand by the receding waters until he is swept out to sea by the forthcoming foreclosure tsunami.

From the Trenches,

Roy Oppenheim

Oppenheim Law on The Tale of Two Cities: The Best and The Worst of Times

Monday, April 26th, 2010
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Stocks Up + Economy Recovering, But a New Real Estate Storm On The Radar

Book the First: Recalled to Lifestocks-going-up

On the national front, news stories indicate that the stock market is steadily resurrecting itself, the first real positive sign that the economy may finally be on the mend. A recent article in The Wall Street Journal noted that banks especially were showing vast improvements, with J.P. Morgan Chase calculating a 55% surge in quarterly profits. While the news is encouraging, there is still hesitation rather than outright relief in the undertone of the stories. The reason: if the banks have not learned from their mistakes, the economy might be six feet under again and sooner than we think.

Book the Second: The Golden Thread

While numbers in South Florida still appear disheartening, a little golden thread appears to be tying up the drowning homeowners into a pretty little package called loan modifications. Although a recent article in The Sun-Sentinel quoted RealtyTrac stating that foreclosure filings in Broward had risen 38% in Broward from March 2009, the numbers seem to be decreasing slightly from previously months. The federal government attributes this to the success of new government workout programs.

Recent statements from the Treasury Department tout the success of the new government loan modification programs. Although the programs did not technically go into effect until April, some banks began using them “successfully” earlier. A recent press release by the Assistant Secretary of Financial Stability for the Treasury Department stated the new programs were on track to help 3 to 4 million homeowners by the end of 2012, with over 1.4 million homeowners already beginning the application process. While this appears to be a positive turn, everything will fall apart if that single golden thread snaps.

Book the Third: The Track of a Storm

Hurricane-Katrina-Miami-Rdar-25-Aug-2005-20.30-UTCInterestingly, there are many unanticipated problems stemming from these workouts that might put the housing market right back into the tempest. Loan modifications, while being touted by the government as the evacuation that might save homeowners, are creating a path of destruction in their wake. In fact, while loan modifications are helping some owners, it appears to be hurting others in the process by driving down the value of homes and pushing others further underwater on their loans, leading to more foreclosure filings overall.

Another problem was reported in The New York Times: homeowners who receive modifications are defaulting again, eventually losing their homes to foreclosure anyway. Although the U.S. Treasury stated the 1% of loan modification recipients who had already defaulted this year under modified loans were expected, numbers from previous programs are not encouraging. Reports from 2008 and 2009 showed that eventually 60% of modification recipients re-defaulted. The problem is not the program itself, but rather the fact that by the time relief comes, homeowners are already buried in insurmountable debt.

Right now, it appears that South Florida is in the direct path of the storm, and it could either die off or score a direct hit with thousands of casualties.  While optimistic reports indicate that the worst is over, it really appears we are actually in the eye of the storm, and the worst might be still to come. Overall, the current market seems like a precarious teeter-totter, with the stock market up and the housing market down. Once the two find a delicate balance, the economy should finally stabilize. For now, it is the best of times… and the worst of times.

South Florida Law Blog Nominated for Best of Blogs Awards by Sun-Sentinel

Saturday, February 20th, 2010
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Sun-Sentinel Best of Blogs Awards

Rock the vote! Voting is underway for The Sun-Sentinel’s Best of Blogs Awards and Oppenheim Law’s South Florida Law Blog received a nomination in the Business Blog Category.

The South Florida Law Blog is committed to bringing timely news and advice to our readers as we work together to survive this treacherous real estate market.

You can vote once a day for your favorite blog (Hopefully ours!) after registering for a free Sun-Sentinel account here. Voting ends March 1st.

We appreciate your continued support, feedback and comments and look forward to bringing you the latest and greatest in Florida foreclosure defense and real estate trends.

Sun Sentinel Publishes Roy Oppenheim’s Op-Ed

Tuesday, October 13th, 2009
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Sun-Sentinel

Refusing to let banks and lenders continue to steamroll homeowners and their rights, I recently submitted an Opinion Editorial to the Sun-Sentinel describing the consequences the State of Florida is facing if it continues to allow deficiency judgments on foreclosed properties.

My article was published in the paper’s Sunday Outlook section.  Here’s a summary of why I believe the United States of America sure seems to be turning into the Divided States of America.

States like Florida are allowing their homeowners to suffer and be enslaved by debt even after the foreclosure process, while homeowners in many other states are free from this obligation.

Thankfully, members of the Florida Legislature are starting to realize they either need to change the laws or continue to watch the Florida population implode while the economy continues to tank.

“The model is broken, and it won’t get fixed until there is a national uniform standard,” I wrote. “The options are: All states become recourse states, like Florida, and every homeowner becomes a servant to the banks, or Florida can stop sucking up to the banks, get competitive with other non-recourse states like California and stick up for the little guy.”

The entire article is posted in the Oppenheim Law News Room.