Posts Tagged ‘South Florida Law Blog’
Sunday, January 29th, 2012
New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman
We here at the South Florida Law Blog decided to clock in a few hours this weekend, because if we didn’t we’d probably fall behind President Obama’s new man-in-the trenches Eric Schneiderman.
President Obama only announced this new investigative unit during Tuesday’s State of the Union, yet the “check”, or in this case the subpoena, is already in the mail.
If you were skeptical that Obama was still interested in the status-quo when it comes to the banks and doing business, may we present Exhibit A.
Eric Schneiderman is turning himself into a modern-day Elliot Ness.
You remember Ness don’t you?
The federal agent whose team of “Untouchables” couldn’t be bought off and helped bring down Al Capone?
Schneiderman too has the era of a man who will not be co-opted. If anyone can stay above the fray and not be reeled in by the banks and their money, he can.
Investigation Going After Cause of Housing Crisis
Schneiderman has stood up to the President before, openly opposing the settlement agreement that we here at the South Florida Law Blog have railed against. And now he is Obama’s point man for placing blame and creating accountability for causing the worst economic crisis in the US since the Depression.
Elliot Ness
The Huffington Post is reporting that outside of claims directly relating to robo-signing fiasco, the banks will not be released from the threat of prosecution for the vast majority of securities-related crimes.
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Tags: banking, Deconstruction the Black Magic of Securitized Trusts, economics, elliot, elliot ness, eric, Eric Scheniderman, eric schneiderman, federal reserve system, finance, fraud, housing crisis, IRS, mortgage backed security, mortgages, ness, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, Obama, rampant, robo signing, Roy Oppenheim, schneiderman, SEC, securitization, securitized, securitized trust, South Florida, South Florida Law Blog
Posted in Eric Schneiderman, Florida foreclosures, Florida Law News, Foreclosure Fraud, Huffington Post, Mortgage Bankers Association, Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities Working Group, Underwater Mortgage | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, January 24th, 2012
President Obama is likely to talk about this in tonight’s State of The Union Address, but we’re not going to wait that long.
With details of the proposed $25 billion settlement with the nation’s largest banks over the robo-signing fiasco now out in the public eye thanks to the Associated Press, we feel a large sense of disappointment.
There’s no question that this deal will change the mortgage industry for the better. Some homeowners will even have a much better chance of being able to restructure their loans when facing foreclosure under this deal.
No One’s Getting Their Keys Back
Yet, there are many out there who are going to feel little comfort with this agreement. Here’s what the deal is NOT going to do. It’s not going to put people who’ve lost their homes (again because of deceptive foreclosure practices) back in those houses, or give them any real financial security.
According to the deal, about 750,000 Americans, which by the way is about
Tags: Associated Press, barack obama, fallout, foreclosure, foreclosure practices, foreclosures, Harriet Johnson Brackey, large banks, mortgage, mortgage industry, mortgage practice, Oppenheim Law, personal finance, President Obama, Real Estate, robo, settlement, sherrod brown, South Florida Law Blog, wheel of fortune
Posted in Foreclosure Defense, Foreclosure Fraud, Oppenheim Law | 6 Comments »
Thursday, January 19th, 2012
Back when it debuted last April, we were somewhat skeptical that Florida’s Hardest Hit program could provide real benefits for the people it sought to help.
We called it a band-aid, and at least for some South Florida homeowners, it’s proving to be just that. The Palm Beach Post profiled several homeowners who were among the first to receive benefits from the program. Sheryl Stuart, a Jupiter homeowner whose business went under, applied for help through the mortgage relief program, and is about to see her payments end next month. Hardest Hit only entitles qualified homeowners up to six months of mortgage assistance.
Stuart told the Palm Beach Post that even though she’s found a new job, her salary won’t be able to cover her mortgage payment once she stops receiving aid from Hardest Hit. She’s frustrated that she’s about to be right back where she started when she applied for aid in the first place.
“In this economy, to think you can turn your life around in six months is totally ludicrous,” Stuart said in the article, “The working class is quickly slipping into a black hole.”
The truth is this program, however well-intentioned it might have been, is just not enough. What Hardest Hit is essentially doing is giving homeowners a nice seafood dinner, when they really need to learn how to fish.
It scratches the surface but for people like Stuart it might just delay the inevitable. Unless you’re giving homeowners a solid two years of payment relief, you’re not giving these people time to go back to school, improve their financial standing, and really turn their lives around.
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Tags: band aids, Florida's Hardest Hit, foreclosure, Foreclosure Defense, foreclosure relief, hardest hit, homeowners, kimberly miller, mortgage, mortgage payment, mortgage relief, Oppenheim Law, Palm Beach Post, Roy Oppenheim, sheryl stuart, South Florida Law Blog, Sun Sentinel
Posted in Federal Reserve, Florida Law News, Foreclosure Defense, Palm Beach Post, Sun Sentinel | 1 Comment »
Saturday, December 31st, 2011
Continuing our list here’s Pt. 2 of our Top 10 stories for 2011 —
As 2011 got underway we were presented with a fascinating yet disturbing report by the Florida Association of Court Clerks called “Unfair, Deceptive and Unconscionable Acts in Foreclosure Cases”. It brought these horrible practices into the harsh light of day.
“What we got from this is the state has had the opportunity to see where the laws have been broken,’ Palm Beach County Clerk and Comptroller Sharon Bock said at the time, “and frankly, it is in large part thanks to the work of the defense attorneys.
We cited April Charney from the Jacksonville Area Legal Aid and Peter Ticktin and many others wonderful attorneys who have taken bank officers’ depositions, challenged judges rulings and fought the good fight for the Florida homeowner.
#4 — Cracked! Humpty Dumpty, Chase and GMC, the Bank Fraud Foreclosure Crisis Continues to Fall!
Somewhere along the line, the overly ambitious bankers on Wall Street had the “great idea” of slicing and dicing the interest of the Promissory Note and literally severing it from your Mortgage. Why? Convenience,expediency, and, arguably, greed. And much like Humpty Dumpty after his great fall, the banks couldn’t bring the mortgages and their corresponding Notes all back together again. The banks were accused of fraud and perjury trying to do just that.
# 3 — Housing Market Poll: When Will Florida Recover?
If Americans are right, 2012 will finally be the magic year for the housing market. Over 2,000 adults were polled by Trulia and RealtyTrac , and the majority, 22 percent, said most Americans think the housing market will fully recover in the new year. A mere 10 percent thought a recovery would happen this year, while nearly a quarter of those surveyed predicted a bumpy road until 2015 and beyond.
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Tags: 2011, bank fraud, banking, Florida, foreclosure, foreclosures, fraud, housing market, law blog, law review, mortgage, Oppenheim Law, property, Real Estate, Roy Oppenheim, short sale, South Florida, South Florida Law Blog, strategic default, top 10
Posted in Deficiency Judgements, Florida foreclosures, Florida Law News, Florida real estate, Florida short sales, Foreclosure Defense, Foreclosure Fraud | 1 Comment »
Friday, December 30th, 2011
In our last blog we talked about the stories that resonated with Roy Oppenheim in 2011, but what stories mattered to you?
We reviewed the most popular stories on the South Florida Law Blog this year and came up with our list of the top 10 posts for 2011
# 10 — Florida Deficiency Judgments FAQs . . . By Popular Demand
Some of Oppenheim Law’s most popular videos and blog posts this year were on the topic of deficiency judgements. Understanding deficiencies and the Florida rules which pertain to them are key to avoid getting a deficiency judgment.
The unpaid mortgage debt associated with a residence is a deficiency. A bank can foreclose and force a judicial sale of a home if the mortgage borrower fails to pay the associated mortgage debt. The deficiency is the difference between the proceeds from the sale and the remaining mortgage loan balance. A deficiency can also result from a short sale, which is an alternative to foreclosure.
The rules pertaining to deficiencies differ from state to state. In Florida, if the bank is successful in obtaining a deficiency judgment, it will be recorded in the public records and collectable for up to twenty years. To avoid the possibility of getting a deficiency judgment, before deciding to walk away from your home, hiring a good foreclosure defense attorney is necessary.
#9 — #Fail – Government Plan to Help #Florida Homeowners
At first glance, it looked like Florida foreclosure victims were finally getting the help they need from the feds. Reading the fine print it looks like if we had to describe this in one tweet word: #fail.
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Tags: 2011, deficiency, deficiency judgment, foreclosure, foreclosures, judgments, law blog, law review, loss mitigation, mortgage, mortgage loans, Oppenheim Law, Roy Oppenheim, short sale, South Florida, South Florida Law Blog, subprime lending, subprime mortgage crisis, top 10
Posted in Florida foreclosures, Florida Law News, Florida real estate, Florida short sales, Foreclosure Defense, Foreclosure Fraud, Roy Oppenheim | 1 Comment »
Friday, June 10th, 2011
All the top headlines from popular topics around the web: that’s AllTop.
And now the South Florida Law Blog is listed on this popular directory of top news sources. Fresh off the South Florida Sun-Sentinel Best of Blogs Awards, Oppenheim Law is proud to announce we are part of the feed to the AllTop Real Estate topic: http://real-estate.alltop.com/
What is AllTop?
The website helps users answer the question, “What’s happening?” Alltop prides itself on providing aggregation without aggravation, according to its homepage.
The “online magazine rack” collects the latest headlines from the best sites and blogs. Topics include celebrities, fashion, sports, politics – and real estate. The South Florida Law blog is in good company alongside news giants such as The Wall Street Journal, MSNBC and The New York Times and local blogs from Hanoi to Chicago.
The selection process for Alltop is “highly subjective and judgmental”, not based on an algorithm, as with search engines, so to be included is a special honor. South Florida Law Blog fans are now able to subscribe and view the latest real estate news and commentary alongside their other favorite blogs.
About Alltop and Guy Kawasaki
Named “the granddaddy of blog discovery tools” by Mashable, Alltop was founded by former Apple evangelist and Silicon Valley venture capitalist Guy Kawasaki. Kawasaki was one of the Apple employees originally responsible for marketing the Macintosh in 1984. Kawasaki is a renowned public speaker and best-selling author of 10 books including his latest, Enchantment: The Art of Changing Hearts, Minds, and Actions. Although he’s been described as a business legend, Kawasaki says that being a legend shouldn’t be your goal in life: “What you should do is create a great product or service…the goal is to change the world…if you do that, maybe you’ll be a legend.”
Tags: Alltop, Florida Foreclosure Defense, Florida Real estate blog, Guy Kawasaki, legal blogger, Oppenheim Law, real estate lawyer, Real Estate News, Roy Oppenheim, South Florida Law Blog, South Florida Sun-Sentinel Best of Blogs
Posted in AllTop, Best of Blogs Awards, Florida Law News, Foreclosure Defense, Roy Oppenheim | 1 Comment »
Wednesday, April 20th, 2011
South Florida voted, and Oppenheim Law’s South Florida Law Blog came out on top in the category of Best Business and Technology Blog in the 2nd Annual Sun-Sentinel Best of Blogs Awards.
Discussing topics like Florida foreclosure defense, homeowners’ rights, real estate tips and trends, and the economy, Oppenheim Law’s foreclosure defense attorneys interpret the latest news and translate what it all means to today’s homeowner.
Recent headlines include fresh topics like “Deficiency Judgments Haunting Return, Jason Lives Once Again,” “Budgetary Hardball Almost Forces Court Closures: Courts’ Reliance On Foreclosure Fees Exposed” and “Foreclosure Auctions are not eBay or Child’s Play. Novice Investors Beware!”
Over the past year, The South Florida Law Blog has broken down issues like South Florida home sales, national mortgage fraud, America’s job markets, and all the developments in foreclosure defense and short sales to help homeowners take advantage of these trends in areas the banks and the government clearly cannot.
“Homeowners need to be aware of how all of these trends can impact their greatest investment,” Oppenheim said. “We look forward to continuing to provide legal insight and practical analysis into these topics that greatly affect South Florida.”
Oppenheim Law is one of the leading Florida real estate and foreclosure defense law firms, founded in 1989. The firm has a 9.6 out of 10 rating from AVVO, the world’s largest legal directory, as well as the highest rating (A-V) conferred by Martindale Hubbell Law Directory, the most respected directory of lawyers and law firms in the U.S.
Tags: Best of Blogs, Oppenheim Law, Roy Oppenheim, South Florida, South Florida Law Blog, South Florida Sun Sentinel, Sun Sentinel
Posted in From the Heart, Roy Oppenheim, Sun Sentinel | 4 Comments »
