South Florida Law Blog

Foreclosures, repos up from last year in South Florida I said after the foreclosure settlement was announced that banks had been given the green light to rev up their foreclosures engines, and in South Florida at least, I’m being proven right. RealtyTrac’s numbers from last month show dramatic year-over-year increases in both new foreclosure filings (85%) and repossessions (39%) in […]

Could Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac finally be willing to sign off on principal reduction as a way to keep homeowners out of foreclosure and in their homes? Edward DeMarco, the acting head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and de facto leader of the two GSEs has been steadfast in his opposition. President Obama has made principal reduction priority […]

There were two players conspicuously absent when last week’s $25 Billion settlement was unveiled; two players that absolutely should have been front and center. What are their names? If you’ve followed the housing crisis as closely as we have, then you probably know. Our old and unwanted cousins Fannie and Freddie. Their omission from the settlement was perhaps its biggest […]

Now that the holidays are behind us and we’re well into the new year, news that will impact the foreclosure market in 2012 is starting to cross our desk. So what headlines were we talking about this week? Federal Reserve Wake-Up Call! This week we blogged about the Federal Reserve finally coming around and looking out for the homeowners, instead […]

The Oppenheim Law editorial team found this ironic: A drug dealer has more constitutional rights to protection from the government in his home than your average homeowner in foreclosure. In a case being appealed to the United States Supreme Court, the Florida Supreme Court recently held that because the “home” has a long standing history of receiving additional constitutional protect […]

Notary behind robo-signing scandal found dead A whistle-blower who brought a massive case to light was found dead inside her Nevada home. Officers found the body of Tracy Lawrence, 43, after she failed to show up for a 8:30 a.m. court appearance, Las Vegas station KSNV reported. She was supposed to be sentenced for her role in the fraud case, […]

Taking a cue from Oppenheim Law, the Obama Administration is mulling over plans to reduce the number of foreclosed homes on the market by renting them out, according to the Wall Street Journal. As the large inventory of distressed homes on the market continues to push a reduction in home prices as well as an increase in rental prices, the […]

Black hat foreclosure has been an accepted practice since 2006? Unbelievable. Unbelievable. Unbelievable. As Florida’s top prosecutor continues to investigate the state’s law firms for improper foreclosure work, a report has surfaced showing Fannie Mae was warned in 2006 of abuses in the way lenders and their law firms handled foreclosures, according to the Wall Street Journal. The fraud-closure problem […]