Posts Tagged ‘Ellen Pilelsky’

Rolling Stone Read: Reckless Rubber Stamping Foreclosures

Friday, November 12th, 2010

by Ellen Pilelsky – From the Heart

Oppenheim Law on the Matt Taibbi article in the Rolling Stone
There is something so deeply wrong and disturbing with the current foreclosure crisis.

Simply: While most of us have some opinion as to the foreclosure mess, many don’t seem to care about the incredible amount of fraud that has occurred and continues to take place each day.

Some argue that people who fail to pay their mortgages, regardless of their reasons, are “deadbeats.” But, what about the fact some of the largest and wealthiest banks are missing documents used to remove people from their homes? And, in our “rocket docket” State of Florida, there are retired judges who are merely rubber stamping the foreclosure papers filed by the lenders’ firms without actually reviewing the merits of each case?

In Matt Taibbi’s rather eye opening and disturbing article Courts Helping Banks Screw Over Homeowners appearing in Rolling Stone Magazine November 10 issue, he recounts a day of going to a Jacksonville court and experiencing first hand the outrageous and flagrant rubber stamping of cases without judicial review.

Shouldn’t it matter that many of these cases result in people being forced to leave their homes when the very banks in question can’t even produce the documents needed to prove their case? Isn’t it a bit odd that these wealthy banks are not being subject to the same level of scrutiny?

Or is this politics as usual? After all, many of these banks sold the mortgages of people to “investors” –other banks or trusts. And, many of those trusts do not have the documentation to prove they have the original documents. Wall Street, in fact, was part of this process and made huge sums of money.
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The Florida Foreclosure “Rocket Docket”: A Violation of Our Constitutional Rights?

Tuesday, September 7th, 2010


From the Heart by Ellen Pilelsky

Picture this. In Florida: Retired judges being pulled out of retirement and paid to sit on foreclosure courts. Purpose: To decrease the amount of Florida’s foreclosure backlog.

Reality? The outcome of many cases is questionable, at best. Seems many of these judges, who may be well intentioned, are actually ruling in favor of the banks despite legitimate issues, such as the financial institution’s ownership of the note and mortgage.

Conflict of Interest? Retired judges are actually being compensated in order to decrease the foreclosure docket. Some argue that since these select judges have a financial interest in decreasing these cases, a homeowner’s constitutional rights may in fact be at jeopardy.

In fact, this past weekend, the New York Times reported injustices done to homeowners facing foreclosure through Florida’s recently created “foreclosure courts.” Simply put, questions are being raised as to whether the retired judges are ignoring problematic or contradictory evidence, especially since some banks have not yet even proven that they own the properties in question.

What next? The Attorney General’s office is investigating foreclosure firms that have submitted questionable ownership documents.

The true question is how did we get to this point? How could foreclosure decisions be rendered by courts where the ownership of the very documents upon which the suits are fashioned are suspect? Where is the consideration of the homeowner’s rights?

Perhaps an appeal of those cases incorrectly decided should be under way. More importantly, perhaps justice should actually be served.

From the Heart: Life Lessons Learned from Mister Rogers

Friday, March 19th, 2010

Cooperation, Persistence, Patience, Sharing, and Positivity

This post is the third for Oppenheim Law’s senior partner, Ellen Pilelsky, as she discusses Florida real estate and foreclosure, sharing her perspective “From the Heart.” Oppenheim Law looks forward to your continued feedback and support for this new column.

From the Heart Ellen PilelskyIt has been seven years since Fred Rogers, the star of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, has died. Although the series of his well-known Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood can now only be found online (in fact there was a contest for the best show), we can all learn from Fred Rogers.

In these turbulent times, it is actually refreshing to view one of Mister Rodgers’ episodes. It reminds us how critical our role is not only to our children but also to our community. Mister Rogers embodies the “old time” values when neighbors knew each other, cared for each other and made sure that our children learned how to positively deal with others.

Interestingly, Mister Rogers’ series still gives us a gentle yet firm reminder of how timeless skills such as cooperation, persistence, patience, sharing, and the ability to remain positive helps us in any situation and any time. Generations of children and adults were and are drawn to these old episodes because they embody how simple life really can be. Even when we are dragged into negativity from the economy, war, and rampant unemployment, there existed and can still exist a better way.

In fact, Mister Rogers provides us all with the “good” feeling that we have the ability to act and face our difficulties. His episodes support a young child’s self-confidence by focusing on moving past frustrations and inevitable failures. In fact, his earmark lines, “You’ve made this day a special day just by being you. You are the only person like you in this whole world. And people can like you just because you’re you,” give us hope that we can count on and overcome difficulty
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Two Thumbs up: Florida Foreclosure Title Insurance

Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010

WESTON LOGO BLACKIn the worst of real estate times, opportunity arises even on the courthouse steps.

Buying in the murky foreclosure waters is not quite as dangerous as swimming with the sharks thanks to Foreclosure Title Insurance, says Florida foreclosure defense attorney Roy Oppenheim.

More than 500,000 foreclosure filings entered Florida’s books in 2009, and those properties now saturate the South Florida real estate market. While these economic times are challenging for most, they can be the best time for some South Floridians to capitalize on an unprecedented opportunity who want to purchase foreclosures.

Foreclosure buyers can now add a perk to their deals with Foreclosure Title Insurance. Check out how South Florida real estate investors can protect themselves with Florida Foreclosure Title Insurance.


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