Posts Tagged ‘Rick Scott’

Roy Oppenheim from the Trenches: The State of Real Estate

Sunday, May 19th, 2013

arrow upSouth Florida real estate and foreclosure defense attorney Roy Oppenheim has been keeping his ear to the ground as the real estate market begins to heat up. In a recent article in U.S.A Today, Oppenheim was quoted as saying that lenders are pushing through foreclosures now because the values are up. Meantime, investors have been fueling the recovery, driving prices higher.

In his most recent “From the Trenches” video, Oppenheim talks about the fact that it’s become a seller’s market. When it comes to short sales, Oppenheim says it’s not unusual to see multiple offers. This is having a trickle down effect on the rest of the economy. Construction is starting to heat up, movers benefit as do realtors, mortgage brokers, real estate attorneys and title companies.

Last week, the U.S. Commerce Department reported applications for new construction rose to a five-year high. Building permits shot up 14 percent, the highest since June 2008. That indicates not only is the economy starting to simmer, but that more potential home buyers are dipping their toes into the real estate market.

However, we are not out of the woods yet, according to Roy, since so-called “rocket dockets” continue to plague those already in foreclosure.

Find out more of what Oppenheim has to say about the housing recovery by watching his video.

Real estate and foreclosure defense attorney, Roy Oppenheim left Wall Street for Main Street, founding Oppenheim Law along with his wife Ellen in 1989 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He also is vice president of Weston Title and creator of the South Florida Law Blog, named the best business and technology blog by the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Follow Roy on Twitter at @OpLaw or like Oppenheim Law on Facebook

South Florida falls to third in national foreclosure rankings

Monday, May 13th, 2013

Written By Paul Owers, Sun Sentinel 5:37 a.m. EDT, May 9, 2013 and republished in The South Florida Law Blog with excerpts from Roy Oppenheim.

South Florida third in national foreclosure rankings - Sun Sentinel - Roy Oppenheim

S. Fla falls to third in national foreclosure rankings. Lenders must prove they can foreclose before filing and some say bill restricts due-process rights.

South Florida has relinquished its ranking as the nation’s top spot for foreclosures.

After posting the No. 1 foreclosure rate for two consecutive months, the metro area covering Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties fell to third in April, according to RealtyTrac Inc.

One in every 269 homes in the tri-county region was in some stage of foreclosure last month, RealtyTrac said. Akron, Ohio, ranked first, at one in 211 homes, and Ocala was second at one in 225 homes.

The Irvine, Calif.-based listing firm monitors public records for three types of foreclosure filings: new cases, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions.

South Florida had 9,127 total filings in April, up slightly from a year earlier, but new cases declined by 35 percent, said Daren Blomquist, a spokesman for RealtyTrac.

“It appears that lenders have caught up with these delayed foreclosures,” he said. “Banks are pushing through the backlog, so we’re getting closer to seeing a resolution with these distressed homes.”

Foreclosures mounted across the country during the housing bust. But some lenders held back on filings starting in late 2010 over concerns about possible paperwork errors.

While Florida last month had the nation’s second-highest foreclosure rate, after Nevada, filings are down sharply across the Sunshine State since the 2009 peak, Blomquist said.
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‘Bad Neighbor Banks’ Take Hold In South Florida

Friday, May 4th, 2012

Fish-Eye Lens

  • Banks make bad neighbors.

It’s been one of my mantras for years, and it’s a statement that is again reverberating across the country thanks to The Sun-Sentinel’s 3-part series “Bad Neighbor Banks”.

Thanks to the Sentinel, 60 Minutes, and the National Fair Housing Alliance, we are seeing the hard data that back up my assertion that banks, once they foreclose and take control of a property, just leave them to rot.

The grass no longer gets cut,the garbage accumulates, and before too long you end up with widespread blight not just in urban neighborhoods, but suburbia as well.

It’s the reason why I fight so hard to keep people in their homes. You and I are just better off when you have homeowners, vested in their houses and the neighborhoods they live in, keeping up their homes.

In the Sun-Sentinel’s series there is example after example of banks not doing even the most basic of maintenance. And their argument is usually, ‘It’s not our job’.

A bank has no investment in the neighborhoods you live in, beyond their own bottom line, and the banks have all but admitted it.

“The bank itself has no economic interest or ownership stake in the properties,” a spokesman for Deutsche Bank told the Sun-Sentinel.

So I ask you again, why would you ever want a bank as a neighbor?

The numbers don’t lie. The Sun-Sentinel found 10,300 code violations in bank-owned homes in South Florida since 2007. In the cities they tracked 40 percent of bank-owned homes were cited last year.

So chances are you are living next to one of these eyesores. And I’m betting you’re not too happy about it.
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Florida Foreclosure Help Coming Statewide, Oppenheim Law Says Go For It!

Tuesday, April 19th, 2011

Florida Hardest-Hit FundFlorida foreclosures and good news all in one story? Yes, it is true.

A new federally funded program is now accepting applications for mortgage assistance payments in Florida. The Florida Hardest-Hit program pays an applicant’s mortgage for up to six months to help them to focus on finding a job. There is a maximum, however, of $12,000. Also, the program will pay out up to $6,000 to bring loans current. If this seems meager, it is. Governor Scott gutted the program and stripped it of all effectiveness by changing the terms from 18 months of assistance to six. Ostensibly, this was done to open the program to more people. The problem with such a change is that the assistance provided will do little good to the people that need it most, those who bought houses during the height of the bubble and thus are extremely underwater. Additionally, loans that only need $6,000 to be current are hardly the loans that merit special federal assistance.

Oppenheim Law encourages homeowners to participate! The lack of effectiveness is not stopping homeowners from applying, nor should it. Any help is better than no help at all. Yesterday, the first day of the program, saw many more applications than were expected. However, an official tally for the state won’t be available until the end of the week.


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