Banks need to get their massiveforeclosure backlog off the books. There are over 368,000 cases in Florida. I get that.
Getting these properties into the hands of families who can afford them, that is what I want to see. It’s needed to jump start the economy, and no one wants to see the banks out of the neighborhoods more than me.
But it can’t be allowed to happen on the backs of other homeowners plain and simple. Lenders have tried to thrust these homes back onto the market before, and that’s why they just shelled out $25 billion.
Yeta series of proposed billsnow making their way through theFlorida HouseandSenateoffer banks unjust control over the foreclosure process, all in the name of getting abandoned homes back on the market.
The Senate version,which would create the “Florida Fair Foreclosure Act”, was passed by a judiciary committee earlier this week by a 5-2 vote. There is a similar bill making their way through the House.
But are they really ‘fair’ to homeowners? Absolutely not.
Have the politicians in Tallahassee learned nothing from the settlement? The $25 billion isn’t even in the mail, yet some are back to their old tricks, turning a blind eye to the plights of their constituents and denying them due process. (more…)
Some of Oppenheim Law’s most popular videos and blog posts this year were on the topic of deficiency judgements. Understanding deficiencies and the Florida rules which pertain to them are key to avoid getting a deficiency judgment.
The unpaid mortgage debt associated with a residence is a deficiency. A bank can foreclose and force a judicial sale of a home if the mortgage borrower fails to pay the associated mortgage debt. The deficiency is the difference between the proceeds from the sale and the remaining mortgage loan balance. A deficiency can also result from a short sale, which is an alternative to foreclosure.
The rules pertaining to deficiencies differ from state to state. In Florida, if the bank is successful in obtaining a deficiency judgment, it will be recorded in the public records and collectable for up to twenty years. To avoid the possibility of getting a deficiency judgment, before deciding to walk away from your home, hiring a good foreclosure defense attorney is necessary.
At first glance, it looked like Floridaforeclosurevictims were finally getting the help they need from the feds. Reading the fine print it looks like if we had to describe this in one tweet word: #fail. (more…)
Attorney Roy Oppenheim’s Summer School is in session with a special focus on Florida foreclosure defense strategies including today’s topic: How to avoid a Florida Deficiency Judgement.Oppenheim Law wants to help “bullet-proof” Florida homeowners against the banks; helping them understand the difference between a deficiency and a deficiency judgement.
A deficiency is when the bank forecloses on your house and a difference of money you owe remains. Once such a deficiency is registered by a court, it becomes a deficiency judgment.
In Florida, if you have a deficiency and it becomes a deficiency judgement, the Florida bank can seize your assets (bank accounts, cars, estate, etc.) for up to 20 years.
In this Summer School ‘How To’ Video, Roy Oppenheim tells you what you need to know about deficiency and deficiency judgements in less than four minutes!
As a tribute to Bob Dylan’s 70th birthday today, his song “The Times They Are A-Changin” captures the spirit of the social and political upheaval happening in today’s Florida courts. Despite a swollen pipeline of more than half a million pending foreclosure cases, Florida’s appellate courts are starting to send a clear message that banks will not succeed in trampling the Constitutional rights of homeowners.
The times they are a-changin’. And it’s about time.
Florida District Courts of Appeal are ruling in favor of homeowners when procedural due process has been violated as well as in cases where the trial court improperly granted summary judgment in favor of a bank based on lawyers’ assertions that have no evidentiary support on the record.
Recent decisions from the 1st, 3rd, 4th and 5th District Courts of Appeal can provide hope to homeowners and South Florida foreclosure defense attorneys that banks will be forced to start playing by the rules, or risk having their judgments reversed on appeal.
For example, the 5th DCA reversed a summary judgment decision in favor of a bank last month for a lack of evidence on the foreclosing bank’s standing to sue. The Court of Appeal found that documents submitted at trial contradicted the bank’s mere allegations that it was the holder of the note, and therefore allowed to foreclose.
“Taken together, these decisions are powerful evidence that Florida’s appellate courts are increasingly receptive to foreclosure defendants’ complaints that some trial courts are not holding foreclosure plaintiffs to the requirements of Florida Civil Procedure – and perhaps that they are also paying attention to the widely reported improprieties in the mortgage lending industry,” said Dan Bushell, a South Florida appellate attorney, on his blog, Florida Appellate Review. (more…)
There is an interesting practice developing at our nation’s big banks. Borrowers who are in or nearing foreclosure are being offered thousands of dollars to short sale their homes. Some are even being offered $35,000 to get rid of their homes, and quickly. This situation presents an intriguing insight into the way banks are thinking at the moment. Banks would rather pay you and take a loss rather than foreclose on homes.
Do such offers signify that banks have learned their lesson and are trying to get out of sub-prime loans, or are they looking to just prevent further losses? Perhaps the answer is that the banks are concerned about existing home prices. Bank of America’s chief economist, Mickey Levy, while speaking privately, spoke of the concern that the 1.8 million bad loans in the nation will drive down the market if they go into foreclosure. Such fears help explain why the banks are desperate to avoid foreclosing on homes. They don’t want the rest of their loans to become vulnerable: the more foreclosures, the more house prices fall, therefore, the value of the banks’ loans go down and more people want to walk away from their homes, causing the banks even more losses.
In the end, this situation is a win-win. Not only do banks protect home prices, but they stand to get back more money quicker from a short sale than a foreclosure and the good publicity would be a nice change of pace for their PR departments. Homeowners in trouble are also helped because they can get out of their houses with some cash in their pockets and get on with the rest of their lives.
Real estate reporter Laura Layden had some questions on deficiency judgments. Ms. Layden contacted Oppenheim Law to obtain the answers for her business story. Roy Oppenheim shared views on the state of the real estate market.
Here are a few excerpts from the story-
“Oppenheim, a leading foreclosure defense attorney in Florida, represents many homeowners in the state who are facing deficiency judgments. There has been legislation proposed to try to limit them in Florida, but it has gone nowhere, he said.”
“Some states don’t allow the judgments.”
“Most often, banks pursue deficiency judgments when they are the buyers at the auction,” Oppenheim said. He estimates that lenders are getting the judgments on less than five percent of foreclosed properties in Florida today. “But it’s creeping up,” he said.
“The best way to avoid such judgments is to fight a foreclosure every step of the way, and not to just allow a bank to take your property,” Oppenheim said.
