Posts Tagged ‘housing crisis’

Mortgage Settlement Payouts Are Another Blown Call

Monday, October 1st, 2012

Roy Oppenheim’s commentary was originally published on Yahoo! Homes and is being republished on South Florida Law Blog with their permission.

Green Bay Packers vs Seattle SeahawksWell the long national nightmare is over. No, not the fraudclosure crisis. Sad to say that legal mess is still being cleaned up years after the bubble burst.

I’m talking, of course, of the NFL referees lockout.

Believe it or not, as I watched the backpedaling by Goodell and Friends after the Monday Night debacle, I found an odd comparison with the latest installment of what I like to call “As the Mortgage Settlement Turns”.

Here in Florida, and in several other states across the country, thousands of homeowners are about to get notices in the mail, stating they too might be able to claim a piece of the settlement pie.

The basic premise is this, if you lost your home to foreclosure, you’ll get a claims form, if you fill it out and you’re deemed eligible, you could get some money for your troubles.

When you take a long hard look at this process, you’ll probably see, as I have, that this process is inherently flawed from the get-go.

It’s why I’m not assisting my clients fill out these forms. I am not getting involved.

So how does this relate back to the NFL? Well since the lockout started every statement that came from the League was a complete and utter whitewash of the problems caused by the use of the replacement referees.

Rather than apologizing or even acknowledging their mistake, a mistake millions of people saw with their own eyes, the NFL just stuck to a hollow narrative and hoped we’d just accept it and move on. Just as the government and the banks are trying to do now with this flimsy settlement.
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New Ideas To Fix The Housing Crisis? Nothing to See Here

Monday, September 10th, 2012

Nothing To See HereWith 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 of both the Republicans’ and Democrats’ agendas on housing.

AND TO SAY THE LEAST I AM UNDERWHELMED.

In the wake of both conventions, each party has made their official party platforms public, and yes, they both at least try to address some aspects of the foreclosure crisis.

With the Democrats, there is a firmer grasp of the housing picture, but I still haven’t heard a solution from them that has the teeth to have a lasting impact.

They recognize the importance of refinancing, which is good, but to date nothing they have done has forced the banks to refinance. So the intent is there, but there is little actual follow through.

Not HARP or any of the alphabet soup programs created during the last four years have done anything to truly encourage refinancing. There’s too much please and thank you in the Democrats programs, when it is time for them to be the stern parent and send the banks to bed without their supper.

You must make refinancing in the banks’ best interest, to me the only way for that to happen would be to reinstate Franklin Roosevelt’s Home Owners Loan Corporation.

It closed up shop in the 1950’s, and mortgage lending hasn’t been the same since.
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Divided States of America: Judicial vs Non-Judicial Foreclosure

Monday, July 16th, 2012

Roy Oppenheim’s commentary was originally published on Yahoo! Homes and is being redistributed on South Florida Law Blog with their permission.

United States of AmericaAccording to some analysts, whether or not your state is on its way to a housing recovery depends on whether you live in a state that requires judicial foreclosure or one that does not.

What is the difference? In states that require judicial foreclosure, a lender must go through the court system in order to foreclose on a home. A judge must issue a legal judgment against a homeowner in order for that person to be forced out of their home.

That is how it is in Florida, where I practice law, along with 20 other states. But in the rest of the country, in states like California or Georgia, courts are not required to intervene.

With non-judicial foreclosures, banks hold all the cards. If you are deemed by your lender to be in default, the banks can play the role of judge, jury, and executioner.

Your home can be put up for auction, and the court has no or little say in the matter.

It’s like what happens when your car is repossessed by the repo man.

This is why I like to call our country the Divided States of America. There are some states where the rule of law still matters, but there are many that have allowed banks to essentially make up the rules as they go along.

As a lawyer and someone whose job it is to help uphold the law, I think you can guess which side I am on.
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The American Dream — Alive and Well

Thursday, June 7th, 2012

United States of AmericaI had the pleasure to speak to a spirited group of homeowners a few days ago in Delray Beach. I was invited to address a group of homeowners associations, but the group of 70 plus could easily have fit in with the people who walk through my doors every day.

They were frustrated, tired of hearing excuses, and they wanted answers on how the housing crisis will ultimately right itself.

Often the opinion that they conveyed to me, either directly or simply by the expression on their faces, was this — “What happened to the American Dream? Is it gone forever?”

And the answer is no. You may have to look extra hard for it, but it still remains; and it can be reached by everyone.

I found someone who is living the American Dream, and it made me smile. And in his story you will see the problem, but at the same time I think you will find the solution.

Why? Because the man, Eddy Kauffmann, lives in Switzerland. He is not an American citizen. At least not yet.

He is a retired banker who has found a way to turn this horrible mess of a housing market and use it to obtain his goal of becoming an United States citizen. At the same time, his success could have a positive impact on entire communities.

I in fact, come from Swiss lineage, as my mother was Swiss. The Swiss are extremely observant and methodical in nature. (See Swiss watches and banks!)

Perhaps that’s why this story caught my attention.
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