It’s a case of Dawn of the Dead called zombie foreclosures. In addition to the wave of Florida foreclosure cases expected once the banks get their paperwork in order and begin to foreclose on new homes again, a different wave of foreclosure cases is also ready to crest. The second wave is the zombie foreclosure wave.
The zombie cases are the ones that were dismissed without prejudice, meaning that they can be re-filed; because lawyers for the banks didn’t show up to hearings or the cases were dismissed due to legal and technical irregularities. Typically, such cases were handled by large foreclosure mills that had sloppy practices.
Now banks are getting a second shot at the cases, which will further clog the court system with even more cases. However, the backlog in the courts and the long periods of inactivity in the zombie cases does buy homeowners more time.
The future surge of cases also creates the danger that the “cookie-cutter” approach lambasted by Judge Jennifer Bailey, the head of the Miami-Dade civil court division, will once again be used by lawyers overwhelmed by the sheer number of cases to deal with. The problem is that the cookie-cutter approach was what allowed the banks and mortgage servicers to fraudulently foreclose on homeowners in the first place.
There is the potential, with the anticipated surge in foreclosure cases, for further fraud and abuse.
The irony is it could be happening with the exact same foreclosure cases that the document mills mishandled in the first place!
Is homeownership still part of today’s American Dream? A recent article in the Wall Street Journal shared some old school advice on buying a home in today’s economy, more along the lines of Depression Era thinkers versus Baby Boomer spenders.
1. Buy what you can afford without scrimping on other needs. If you need to save for retirement or college, save. Don’t think your Florida home is going to pay for them.
2. If you need to move in less that seven years, then rent, don’t buy. You will be hard pressed to break even on your Florida home unless you live in it for a long time.
3. Values could stay depressed for many years. The only way you can plan to build equity in your Florida home is to pay down the mortgage.
Whether buying or selling a Florida short sale or foreclosure or renting; make smart decisions in light of today’s economy. Today’s housing market is still unraveling.
It’s an understatement to say that homeowners have had it up to here with banks and the foreclosure process. Those caught up in the wake of the foreclosure crisis often see the banks as heartless and just out to make a buck.
Some feel like what the banks have done to the American homeowner is criminal. And they just might be right.
According to a investigation by CBS I-Team reporter Al Sunshine, 50 state attorney generals are investigating the foreclosure debacle. As it turns out, the bank you borrowed money from probably does not own your mortgage anymore. Many mortgages have been bundled up so they look safe for investors and then sold off, Sunshine says.
He estimates 95% of mortgages are now controlled by what’s called a servicer, which is a bank or financial company which handles your mortgage and monthly payment. They are the ones who collect fees and penalties from home owners, and according to Sunshine’s report, they are the first ones to make yet more money when a home is foreclosed.
And therein lies the problem with the mortgage system, foreclosure attorney Roy Oppenheim told Sunshine.
“It was in their interest to have the foreclosure go through the process versus a modification,” Oppenheim explained. “Typically the way the servicers were compensated, they would receive more compensation through a foreclosure than through a modification.”
So the interests of the borrower are in constant conflict with the interests of the servicer. Since they are often not the bank that lent you the money in the first place, there is little risk to them, and foreclosure is better for their bottom line. (more…)
We’re just half way through the first month of 2011 and foreclosure fraud continues to make headline news. Tonight Oppenheim Law will be in Boca Raton hosting our monthly foreclosure defense workshop “The Future of Foreclosures”.
Tonight we will answer your questions live online or in person.
Tune in to the webcast via Oppenheim Law TV for The Future of Foreclosures Workshop
Tonight at 6 p.m.,
or come in person to the Boca Raton studio located at
95 NW 11th St., Boca Raton, FL 33432.
If you are a Florida homeowner facing foreclosure, you may not be thinking about the long-term economy. But Roy Oppenheim, a Florida foreclosure defense attorney, sees the big picture and how it relates to the foreclosure crisis.
Oppenheim offered Florida homeowners his insights on the economy in a recent interview on the talk show “Mind of Money” with Asset Protection Attorney Douglass Lodmell.
As Oppenheim sees it, Florida homeowners—whether they are in a foreclosure crisis or not—have to recognize that the current state of the economy is the new norm. There isn’t going to a rapid change in today’s economy.
“We need to look at what happened in Japan with the lost decade. This could be a lost generation,” Oppenheim says. “I’m not trying to scare people, but you need to understand that the Federal Reserve throwing $600 billion into the economy to prevent it from deflating further suggests that there are real serious problems with this economy.”
What is the way out? Oppenheim offered three possible paths Florida homeowners should be aware of as they make decisions about foreclosure defense strategies. The U.S. could opt for any of these three strategies:
1. The Third World Approach: Inflating the U.S. dollar so that Florida homeowners have more money, debt is worth less and easier to pay off, but real estate is worth more. Oppenheim says this is the current direction the government is taking.
2. Open the Borders: Allowing immigrants who can invest $250,000 or more into the economy to settle here. If upper middle class people from around the world come to America, it will create a demand for products and services. (more…)
What do you do if your house is in foreclosure? Do you put your head in the sand and enter into the financial crisis? Or do you launch a foreclosure defense?
Roy Oppenheim, a respected Florida real estate and foreclosure defense attorney, offered strategic advice for Florida homeowners in a recent interview on the talk show “Mind of Money” with Asset Protection Attorney Douglass Lodmell.
“The bank crisis is a wonderful opportunity to literally engage the bank in hand to hand combat. There’s an old expression that says to keep your friends close and your enemies closer. You need to bring the bank to you,” Oppenheim says.
Engage the bank like you would engage the enemy.
“Once you’ve engaged the bank, you can then attack them on their fraudulent documentation, if there is any. And more importantly you can engage them to do a short sale, a loan modification or a deed in lieu of foreclosure, or maybe a restructured foreclosure. There are many options.”
Of course, Oppenheim says, before you engage the bank you need to assemble a foreclosure defense team. The good news is the bank is usually willing to negotiate. Oppenheim says banks understand it could take 18 to 20 months—at a price tag of about $1,000 a month—to carry a piece of property that’s in foreclosure. The bank also risks sanctions for any illegal activity with the mortgage. Oppenheim says it’s in the bank’s best interest to find some sort of workout.
What if? The dreaded deficiency judgment.
“At the end of the day, our end game is to make sure that at all costs there is not a deficiency judgment against our clients.” None of our clients that we have defended from the beginning have had a deficiency judgment entered against them. “That may change. If we exhaust all options, we would consider bankruptcy.” (more…)
Below are some questions and answers from the workshop:
How does a lawyer get the judge to do the right thing in following their responsibilities of a judge?
If a judge makes a bad decision, a judge can be appealed. If the judge is not following law or makes a bad decision, they can be appealed and the decision can be reversed
What typically happens when the bank trying to foreclose does not own the mortgage? Does it get dismissed until the proper mortgage holder is located?
It should get dismissed as a matter of law. However, judges love to give banks a lot of chances to get it right, so the judges will usually allow the case to continue to the summary judgment stage. At that point, if the bank still can’t produce an assignment then the summary judgement will be denied. This is not good law, but rather the judge made lore that has no precedence other than for appellate courts to tell the lower courts to knock it off. That happens frequently these days, but not often enough.
Around 11 million Americans owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth. Some economists suggest that the government should encourage banks to write down the principal of some underwater mortgages.
How can you guarantee that you are free from any deficiency judgment with a severely underwater mortgage? (more…)
It’s a case of Dawn of the Dead called zombie foreclosures. In addition to the wave of Florida foreclosure cases expected once the banks get their paperwork in order and begin to foreclose on new homes again, a different wave of foreclosure cases is also ready to crest. The second wave is the zombie foreclosure wave.
