South Florida Law Blog

With the presidential race entering its final stretch and with the employment figures remaining effectively flat, one would think that the housing crisis would have already been front and center by now. As I have said numerous times every economic recovery since the Depression has been led by the housing sector. But only now do we have a fuller picture […]

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 […]

Freddie Mac’s Regulator ‘Completely Puzzled’ by Allegations of Conflict If Edward DeMarco is puzzled by the outrage over the revelation that Freddie Mac was investing in securities that paid off if homeowners couldn’t refinance, then call us puzzled by his puzzlement. Either he’s a bold-faced liar or he is just plain dense. Does he really not get it? DeMarco, the […]

  Aaron Eckhart might have played Two-Face in the last Batman movie, but Freddie Mac seems to have settled into the role these days. Non-profit ProPublica and National Public Radio allege that Freddie Mac, which was set up to make home loans more accessible, was in fact betting against homeowners. It’s a highly disturbing, and completely shocking report. ProPublica’s Jessie […]

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 […]