South Florida Law Blog

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 […]

It’s a case of: The Three Stooges and Mediation. Roy Oppenheim and his client shared their recent story in this week’s Daily Business Review with an inside look at the trials and tribulations of a system where one asks: Who is on first? Under a state Supreme Court order issued 18 months ago, banks have been paying third-party mediators to […]

What is killing Florida real estate? Excess inventories and falling home prices. House prices have been continuously falling for the first time in 70 years, and South Florida homeowners should expect the trend to continue. A surplus inventory of houses caused by Florida foreclosures and short sales is the mortal enemy of home prices. Lower prices are needed to sell […]

As Florida real estate slowly pulls itself out of the foreclosure fraud files; there is finally a government agency standing up to the bully of banks! The IRS. Last week, Reuters News Service published an exclusive article exposing yet another way the banks have been defrauding taxpayers. This time it wasn’t directly through improper lending practices, robo-signing or bad assignments […]

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 […]

The Florida Court system, including judges, nearly faced mandatory furloughs and unpaid vacations due to an emergency shortfall in its budget. Court employees faced up to 30 days of unpaid vacation through the end of May. The reason for the short fall was the precipitous drop in foreclosure filings, which generated the fees the courts relied upon for the majority […]

Investors looking for a great deal at Florida foreclosure auctions may want to think twice before clicking “Buy Now”. Records show amateur investors are falling victim to a simple mistake that’s costing them thousands. When novice real estate investors turn up at foreclosure auctions, what they don’t know is they are often bidding on second or third mortgages. These mortgages […]

In an eye-opening piece by 60 Minutes this week, Scott Pelley managed to actually interview robo-signers who had forged documents that allowed banks to foreclose on thousands of homes illegally. As we have discussed over the past few years, these document mills re-created the necessary documents that banks were too lazy to keep track of in the heyday of the […]