Florida homeowners scored a huge win last week when a Florida Appellate Court ruled that banks could no longer continue to break the rules in almost every foreclosure action. Following advice I gave in my letter to the editor of the Florida Bar Journal months ago, the Fourth District Court finally recognized that affidavits being submitted as “evidence” by banks were inadmissible hearsay that judges had been admitting against homeowners for years.
Friend and fellow , Thomas Ice, took his argument to the Fourth District on behalf of two homeowners. In their case, the bank employee who signed the affidavit against them admitted in his deposition that his only knowledge of the amount due to the bank was based on the bank’s computer system, and more incredibly, the computer system of another bank who had been the previous servicer of the loan. The Court noted in its opinion that the affidavit used by the bank “constituted inadmissible hearsay, and as such, could not support [the bank’s] motion for summary judgment.” And hearsay is exactly that: not actual firsthand knowledge of evidence. Ironically, such affidavits would have been laughed out of any court in the county except for new “lore” instead of “law” that has been taking shape in foreclosure courts in Florida and elsewhere.
In order to bring a motion for summary judgment, a bank must show that there is no “issue of material fact and the movement is entitled to judgment as a matter.” If the bank cannot establish down to the penny how much is owed on the loan, then by default there is a question of material fact and the bank would have to go to trial and prove the amount that is due, putting on witnesses from their own bank as well as from any other servicer of the loan who collected and applied payments before them. (more…)
“Not a single financial executive has gone to jail”…that is how Producer Charles Ferguson rocked the Oscars by starting his acceptance speech for winning best feature documentary for “Inside Job,” a film about the 2008 financial system meltdown. How appropriate.
Meanwhile, Florida real estate is no red carpet winner when it comes to the housing market. Oppenheim Law announces its real estate webinar streaming live Wednesday March 9th at 6 pm, designed to help Florida homeowners use today’s economic conditions to their advantage and fashion their own bailouts.
In this timely workshop, Oppenheim shares fresh insights, including:
How the rising price of oil will affect the American job market, and in turn affect the housing market.
What these trends mean for Florida foreclosure defense and how homeowners can use these events to their advantage to engineer and structure a short sale.
The impact that a sluggish start to the national “selling season” will have on a local level.
Why home prices will continue to drop in the months ahead.
Florida real estate is not immune to the financial system melt down or the recent world events, according to Florida Foreclosure Defense Attorney and Legal Blogger Roy Oppenheim.
As revolutionary tremors continue to spread through the Middle East and actual tremors rocked New Zealand with a 6.3 magnitude earthquake, Oppenheim Law offers insight on how these international events could impact Florida’s real estate market as well as sharing the latest legal trends in foreclosure defense and short sales strategies. (more…)
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…)
Foreclosure defense attorney and legal blogger Roy Oppenheim shares valuable insight into foreclosure defense and the current state of the mortgage crisis during the My Empowerment segment of The Balancing Act on Lifetime TV.
The segment, which aired this morning at 7 and 8 a.m. EST, covered topics ranging from options for underwater homeowners to experts’ long and short-term outlook for the housing market.
Here is the interview in its entirety:
About The Balancing Act
The Balancing Act inspires and empowers with entertaining and educational shows, positioning women to achieve success in every area of their lives. My Empowerment Wednesdays feature hosts Beth Troutman and Kristy Villa reviewing finance-related books, talking about the “do’s and don’ts” of dressing for success, job interviews, and sharing super savings on everyday items and groceries.
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Roy Oppenheim spent about one hour on the phone with The New York Times real estate reporter David Streitfeld talking about what it’s like to be a foreclosure defense attorney. Although Oppenheim has been practicing real estate law including foreclosure defense since 1989 starting out on Wall Street, there is no doubt the past two years have been the busiest helping homeowners fashion their own bailout. Oppenheim’s strategy includes an educational component by hosting monthly foreclosure defense workshops since October 2008.
“Until recently, foreclosure defense would have been considered the lowest of the low — below the divorce guys, below ambulance chasers,” said Mr. Oppenheim, who practices in Weston, Fla. “The idea was inconceivable that you might have legitimate defenses when your client did not pay the bank that had lent them a sum of money.”
For more foreclosure news, Tweets @Oplaw on Twitter, Like us on Facebook and watch @oppenheimroy on YouTube.
Toxic foreclosures, robo-signers, rocket dockets, bank busters, dirty titles and clean homes! The new lingo in real estate law is making a name for itself and leaving frustrated homeowners with questions.
If you have questions about Florida foreclosure news and how it affects you, post them in the blog comments and next week we will post a blog with Frequently Asked Questions and Answers.
Florida homeowners scored a huge win last week when a Florida Appellate Court ruled that banks could no longer continue to break the rules in almost every foreclosure action. Following advice I gave in my letter to the editor of the Florida Bar Journal months ago, the Fourth District Court finally recognized that affidavits being submitted as “evidence” by banks were inadmissible hearsay that judges had been admitting against homeowners for years.
