What can Florida homeowners learn from the wealthy when it comes to strategic defaults? Oppenheim Law discusses strategic default August 4 at 6 PM during the next Free Strategic Foreclosure Workshop.

According to The New York Times, more than 1 in 7 homeowners with loans in excess of a million dollars are seriously delinquent compared to 1 in 12 for mortgages below the million-dollar mark. These numbers indicate many of the country’s wealthiest homeowners are strategically dumping their financially draining properties, just as they would any sour investment.

What: Strategic Defaults: What Can We Learn from the Wealthy?

When: Wednesday, August 4, 2010 – 6:00 to 7:00 PM

Who: Homeowners facing foreclosure or underwater mortgages, real estate professionals, buyers and sellers

Where: The Oppenheim Law Online Stream

Or come in person: 2500 Weston Road, Suite 404, Weston, FL 33331

Cost: Free with advanced registration

RSVP: To register email roy@oplaw.net or call 954.384.6114

Attend the event in Weston, FL or watch from the comfort of home. Oppenheim Law will broadcast August’s Strategic Default Workshop online through the Oppenheim Law Strategic Default Channel. Participants are invited to ask questions and comment on the presentation by registering for a free account with our streaming service.

Check out the video below for a preview of next week’s workshop. See you then!

Florida real estate attorney and legal blogger Roy Oppenheim contributed to the report, which explains how a tenfold increase in foreclosure cases over the past five years is crippling the South Florida court system.

According to Oppenheim Law, South Florida courts have turned to mediation, a process prior to foreclosure proceedings that gives homeowners and banks an opportunity to avoid a battle in court if an agreement on the future of the property and debt can be reached. The problem, though, is most homeowners are not aware they now have a right to mediation.

“Mediation makes all the difference in the world,” Oppenheim says. “There are so many opportunities to resolve matters in mediation, a lot of creative ways.”

Check out the entire Foreclosure Tsunami article in Oppenheim Law’s Newsroom to find out the state’s plan to eliminate half of the foreclosure backlog by the end of the year.

Examples are Hurricane Katrina, the Haiti and Chilean earthquakes and, of course, the devastating Gulf Oil catastrophe. Who could have imagined an underground oil well would explode and the government would not have a logistical safety plan in place. Now we watch each day helplessly as the oil destroys our beaches, marine ecosystem — and our way of life.

It is always events that just come out of nowhere that shock our senses.  This oil deluge is no different except it is happening in slow motion over weeks and months instead of minutes or seconds.  Each day tens of thousands of gallons of oil are fowling our shorelines and animal life. Fisherman and those in the marine industry are feeling the effects first, but so are the folks in the hospitality business.

Many small businesses will be put out of business, and there will be a new round of mortgage defaults by those that have lost their livelihoods due to this crisis.  Individuals generally involved in tourism in the bordering Gulf States will be most affected.

Economists are suggesting that along the Florida Panhandle alone 195,000 people may lose their livelihoods. Not just their jobs! Those fishermen who only know how to fish as a livelihood face a huge problem since the fishing industry as a whole is at risk. Estimates suggest the losses to the Florida Panhandle alone could top $10 Billion!

So just when we thought maybe we had hit rock bottom in the real estate market, one can only imagine the number of new foreclosures we will see crashing ashore in the coming months courtesy of BP, its contractors, subcontractors and the latest Black Swan.

From the Trenches,

Roy Oppenheim

At my most recent seminar last week I discussed the possibility of a Black Swan event occurring that would literally change the complexion of the South Florida real estate market. A Black Swan event is something that just can’t be anticipated. At that moment I gave as an example the possibility of tens of thousands of folks from Venezuela fleeing to South Florida from Chavez’s new economic restrictions.

Now it is already anticipated that Haitian refugees will likely be arriving in South Florida over the next several months and likely years. They will need to be housed and be fully integrated into the community.

Further I had discussed that as a nation and as a community, we are blessed with a housing stock or what I call our “Ark”. That Ark of excess vacant housing can now be deployed with the assistance of FEMA and HUD and other governmental programs to help our struggling island neighbors.

Thus, once again not even the best economists could have anticipated the economic impact both good and bad that such an unthinkable crisis can have to a community. I do hope that with so many vacant homes and condos now in South Florida, and many still owned by the Banks, that we will be able to utilize this housing reserve.

While South Florida is in the midst of hurricane season, many residents want to know who is responsible for abandoned and foreclosed homes before a storm strikes.

Luis Callard is a West Miami-Dade resident who’s worried about all the abandoned and foreclosed houses in his neighborhood.

“No one lives there, and there’s stuff in the back yard,” he tells CBS4′s Chief Consumer Investigator Al Sunshine. “What if a hurricane hits, with high winds?”

He’s not the only South Floridian who worries about that. With Florida among the national leaders in numbers of foreclosures, vacant homes and condos can be found in most neighborhoods. They’re no match for a hurricane.

Ron Szep of the Miami-Dade Building Department knows the problem.

“When the building is unsecured, when the wind can get inside that building, it will basically blow it apart. All the debris will be flying into your and your neighbors’ homes and cause severe damage.”

Szep says that’s the reason Miami-Dade County has a $200,000 program to board up abandoned homes.

So far, 120 of them have been secured, at an average cost of $3,000 each. The county eventually gets the money back by placing a lien on the property, which usually means the bank that foreclosed on the home pays the bill.

Chris Albury of the Miami-Dade Office of Neighborhood Compliance says it’s a good program, but it doesn’t happen overnight.

“On average, it takes about three months to get a house completely boarded up, from beginning to end,” explained Albury.

But in Broward County, there’s no coordinated countywide program to secure abandoned homes. Each municipality has its own building department, and concerned residents have to contact the right one.

So what if a hurricane is approaching, can you take matters into your own hands and secure that neighborhood eyesore?

Attorney Roy Oppenheim warns, “Legally, you can’t go onto private property.” But he adds, in an emergency, you may need to do things you wouldn’t otherwise do to keep safe. “You have to figure out what’s best for you and your family.”

The bottom line: It’s up to you to report abandoned and foreclosed homes to your homeowner’s association or your building department and have them clean up and secure those homes.

Read the full story about foreclosures and hurricanes on CBS4.com.

Many people may be hesitant to believe that business is booming, but there is a particular profession that is; namely, Property Preservationists for distressed properties.

As reported in the August 13^th Sun-Sentinel, foreclosures have tripled across the nation since 2005.  More and more of these properties are becoming REOs, or “real estate owned,” meaning the bank holds the deed. Before hitting the market, these foreclosed properties need a visit from a Property Preservationist for a ”deep cleaning.”  “Property Preservationists” swoop in to handle various tasks such as removing trash, mowing the lawn, boarding up windows, even asking squatters to find a new place of residence. One such Preservationist “deep cleans” between 10 and 20 REOs in a typical week, in addition to inspecting 90 structures and securing 20 others.

“Nobody likes to see me. But when a house’s teeth go bad, who else is going to clean out the rot,” states Nick Hazel, one such Preservationist. In 2009, 1 in every 33 homes in Florida is at risk for a visit by Hazel as 3 out of 100 homes are in foreclosure. Nationally, 1 in 84 is at risk.

If you or anyone you know is struggling with real estate questions or may be facing foreclosure, the workshop this Thursday will offer insight to your options and ways to keep your head above water during this time of real estate havoc.

What: August Real Estate and Foreclosure Workshop
Where: 2500 Weston Rd Ste 404, Weston, FL 33331
When: Thursday, August 6th, 2009, 6:00 to 7:00 PM
Registration: To register email roy@oplaw.net or call privately 954-384-6114.

The latest research covered in Thursday’s workshop includes the current study around mortgage modifications in 2008 and also the common thread between foreclosures and social networks.

How do these topics affect me and my home?
Attend the workshop, get answers!

Roy Oppenheim will be available after the workshop to answer any questions you may have about the current real estate condition and foreclosure process.

As I was in court the other day, I couldn’t help but laugh as condo associations are now turning the tables on the banks.  You see the banks are not exactly the best kind of homeowner. They don’t like to clean their pools, maintain their property… or pay their HOA dues.  The judge even commented on the irony and the trend as expressed in a related article in the WSJ last week.

In fact, the Associations have had enough and are now foreclosing out the bank’s interest by suing the banks for back assessments as well as for new assessments that the banks have incurred since the bank became the owner of the property. Interestingly, the banks thought they were so eager to own the property and now have all the “joys” of ownership.

It reminds me of the proverbial proverb to “always watch out for what you wish for.” Here the banks wanted the property… well now they got it.

If you are on the board of a condo or homeowner’s association and would like our firm to evaluate the possibility of suing the real estate owned by the banks (REO) for failure to pay their association obligations please feel free to contact us.

Read on for my entire question and answer session about banks double dipping at homeowners’ expense.