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Eric Schneiderman: This Millennium’s Elliot Ness?

OppenheimLaw — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 19:38:15 +0000

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.

The New York Attorney General, only days into his appointment as the head of the newly-formed Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities Working Group has already issued subpoenas to 11 financial companies.

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.

Schneiderman said Friday that the settlement will not interfere with his investigation because the settlement money will be for conduct by the banks that took place after the housing market collapsed.

“Our working group is focusing on the conduct that related to the pooling and creation of mortgage backed securities,” he explained, “The conduct that created the crash, not the abuses that happened after the fact.”

For the first time we’re seeing someone attack the cause of the housing crisis, and not just the effect, which is why we’re optimistic.

Schneiderman added he’s confident the liability releases the banks would be granted in the settlement have been “narrowed.” In other words, his investigation and the settlement are no longer tied to each other. Which means he is free to go after the banks for their list of crimes, which is MASSIVE.

Banks Will Not Skate Under Schneiderman

Schneiderman wants to “make sure that we’re not releasing claims that obviously now are even more important to me because I’m investigating them.” Just like Ness, Schneiderman will find having the IRS on his side will likely give him the upper hand since it is now well accepted that the banks engaged in systematic tax fraud.

You need look no further than Oppenheim Law’s recent law-review article, “Deconstruction the Black Magic of Securitized Trusts” to see the world Schneiderman is now stepping into to fix.

The banks systemically and fundamentally failed to follow the rules which were set up to protect the homeowner. The improper securitization of “mortgage backed securities” was in fact never mortgage-backed, and due process took a back-seat in favor of expediency.

Bottom line, Schneiderman will have his hands full for quite some time.

Not a Prison Big Enough

Mitt Romney likes to remind us that “corporations are people, too”. But Romney better hope that is not true, because there is no jail or prison big enough to hold the banks for the rampant fraud they have committed. The truth is you can’t punish the banks the way you would a person, you have to hit them in the pocketbook.

And not just the shareholders, who up to now have received the brunt of the hit the banks have taken so far, thanks to their stocks going down the toilet.

You have to punish the officers, the directors, and the bondholders too, and we suspect Schneiderman shares our opinion on this.

President Obama, who only a year ago was trying to push Schneiderman away, has finally committed to a thorough and in-depth investigation and potential criminal liability for those institutions responsible for the current state of the housing market.

Schneiderman just might make Elliott Ness proud.

Foreclosure Fallout: Robo-Signing deal falls flat

OppenheimLaw — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 20:58:02 +0000

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 ½ of the people who are eligible for help under this settlement, may get a check for about $1,800. That’s the equivalent of one of those parting gifts they’d give contestants when they lose on Wheel of Fortune. In other words, it does them very little good.

Now it’s true that about a million current homeowners will supposedly get their loan balances reduced by an average of 20 thousand dollars. That’s great, and something we here at the South Florida Law Blog have been begging for. But when you consider their are about 11 million out there with underwater mortgages, A LOT of people will be no better off.

Banks Still On Easy Street

And here’s the other thing this deal doesn’t do. It doesn’t hold the banks accountable. Why after the mountains and mountains of evidence of wrong-doing, is the government still playing nice-nice with the nation’s lenders?

The funny thing about this settlement, despite the fact that it’s long overdue, it feels rushed. There hasn’t been a full investigation into the banks’ conduct, no discovery, yet here this deal is, as if they are trying to push it through before anyone notices. It’s feels as if they are trying to avoid the investigation in the first place!

Red Flags Already Raised

Several politicians, including Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown, are already raising concerns over a lack of a proper investigation. We should also point out that the attorneys general in New York and California, a state with one of the highest foreclosure rates, have split from the federal government to pursue their own investigations. The ink on this deal isn’t dry and yet it’s already raising red flags.

“Wall Street is again trying to pass the buck,” Brown told the Associated Press, “Instead of criminal prosecutions, we’re talking about something that’s not more than a slap on the wrist.”

The banks have dragged their feet, in order to escape any real punishment. The perception still remains that the banks are too big to be punished, there is nothing in this deal that invalidates that notion. While we agree this deal should be and is about fixing the system, there is a call for retribution from homeowners that this deal simply doesn’t address.

“This is not vengeance against the banks,” Brown told HousingWire about the deal.

But shouldn’t it be?

Florida’s Hardest Hit Program Not Providing Real Relief; Long-term Solutions Needed

OppenheimLaw — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 15:57:57 +0000

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.

Hardest Hit is throwing good money after bad, and really, what’s the point of spending all this money if it won’t provide permanent relief?

Not to mention that many homeowners have been rejected by the program, nearly 10,000 according to the Post, for reasons including being over 180 days past due on their mortgage. So if many aren’t getting the help they need, and those who are getting the relief aren’t feeling a lasting impact, what’s the point?

Spokeswoman Cecka Green told the Post the state is going through uncharted waters with Hardest Hit, and it looks to us like the state wasn’t truly prepared to handle the demand.

“We never really anticipated where we would be at this point since we had not ever before administered a program like this,” Green said.

Helping people make their payments isn’t the answer. We were elated when the Federal Reserve started talking about principal reduction, that’s a much better solution that ultimately has a chance of keeping people in their homes.

If we allowed homeowners facing foreclosure to lease back their properties, that too would have a higher success rate, in our opinion. If we’ve learned nothing else, it’s that banks make the worst neighbors.

Florida’s Hardest Hit was doomed from the get-go, so it’s time to focus on systematic long-term solutions.

Foreclosure Mills, Bank Fraud and the Housing Market — 2011′s Top Headlines Pt. 2

OppenheimLaw — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 12:00:34 +0000

Continuing our list here’s Pt. 2 of our Top 10 stories for 2011 —

#5 — Foreclosure Fraud Files Released

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.

However the South Florida Law Blog is more pessimistic, believing it will be at least 2016 before Florida’s housing market fully recovers, but a new study shows many Americans are far more optimistic. Although foreclosures have slowed in Florida, we believe they may kick back into high gear.

#2 – Deficiency Judgments Haunting Return, Jason Lives Once Again

This was yet another blog where we spoke about our deficiency judgments. While most large banks were too preoccupied with foreclosures to pursue deficiency judgments, the Sun-Sentinelreported on the fear that when banks catch up in the next several years, they will aggressively go after these judgements.If this happens, expect the main targets to be strategic defaulters, people who can afford their mortgages but defaulted because they are so underwater that it didn’t make any sense to pay. Not every strategic defaulter has to worry though. A deficiency judgment can only be entered in foreclosure cases, not short sales, unless the bank decides to file an action and litigate in court.

#1 — As David Stern’s Foreclosure Mill Closes Down, Judge Dresses Down a Foreclosure Mill

Miami-Dade County Judge Maxine Cohen Lando went on the record to dress down a foreclosure mill in such a fashion that it brought chills to any lawyer. The court questioned what kind of supervision is going on at the foreclosure mills and whether the named partners were in any manner setting up the proper systems to ensure that quality work was being produced.

“You are walking in here totally unprepared, except to make a bunch of flimsy excuses,” she told the banks lawyers. We finally saw a judge take the entire foreclosure production process to task; a judge who is no longer afraid to tell the truth and do her job.

Honorable Mention — Early Holiday Presents from the 4th DCA

This story was too recent to rank high on our list, but it was too important not to mention. Homeowners got a nice early present from the 4th District Court of Appeals this season, who thanks to some stinging decisions, realized that the banks must have the proper authority before they proceed in the foreclosure process. For years we’ve been saying that the banks have systematically been cutting corners in the foreclosure defense process by not having the requisite power to bring their cases. They’ve been denying the due process of those in the foreclosure process by allowing banks the banks to proceed. That process was unfair and unconstitutional, and the courts have now come to the conclusion that we did long ago.

So there you go. We here at Oppenheim Law have been proud to serve you, the homeowner, and look forward to continuing to fight the good fight in the upcoming year. Happy New Year and we’ll see you in 2012!

Foreclosure, Short Sales, Deficiency Judgments — 2011’s Top 10 Headlines: Pt.1

OppenheimLaw — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 14:13:25 +0000

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.

The two agencies that are in charge of overseeing the Independent Foreclosure Review went have gone out of their way to keep the details of this program secret. The most alarming issue is the possible conflict of interest between the consulting firms that were chosen by bank regulators to administer the foreclosure reviews. The fact is these consulting firms are actually getting paid by the banks.

The same banks that ultimately led the economy into the mortgage crisis were placed in control of deciding which homeowners are entitled to compensation for the banks own wrongdoings. It is doubtful homeowners will receive any meaningful relief from this program.

#8 — Law Review Executive Summary: Black Magic of Securitized Trusts

Deconstructing the Black Magic of Securitized Trusts by Roy D. Oppenheim and Jacquelyn K. Trask-Rahn gives an in-depth analysis of the process of securitizing mortgages and how it has gone awry. The article begins with a focus on the rise of subprime lending, the impact that subprime loans, such as “interest-only” and “negative amortization,” had on the American Dream of home ownership, and how “securitizing” these loans led to a false sense of security for homeowners and investors during the housing bubble.

During the spike in foreclosure filings that followed the implosion of the market, in an effort to prove proper standing to bring the action, banks began producing tens of thousands of assignments predating the filing of the foreclosure action. This mass production of assignments proved that trustees had not properly transferred the mortgages from inception thus the banks laced standing to foreclose.

#7 — Banks Desperately Seeking Short Sales

Borrowers who are in or nearing foreclosure are being offered thousands of dollars to short sale their homes. Some are even being offered $35,000 to get rid of their homes, and quickly. This situation presents an intriguing insight into the way banks are thinking at the moment. Banks would rather pay you and take a loss rather than forecloseon homes.Bank of America’s chief economist, Mickey Levy, while speaking privately, spoke of the concern that the 1.8 million bad loans in the nation will drive down the market if they go into foreclosure. Such fears help explain why the banks are desperate to avoid foreclosing on homes. In the end, this situation is a win-win. Not only do banks protect home prices, but they stand to get back more money quicker from a short sale than a foreclosureand homeowners get out of their houses with some cash in their pockets.

#6 — Banks Offer Short Sale Cash Incentives to Homeowners…Finally!

Number 6 on our list also dealt with short sales, as Oppenheim Law touted 2011 as the “Year of the Short Sale,”. Two of the nation’s largest lenders, Wachovia and JP Morgan Chase, chose to forgo the lengthy foreclosure process by giving select homeowners $10,000 to $20,000 to complete a short sale, according to The Sun-Sentinel.

Oppenheim Law has represented hundreds of homeowners’ short sales over the past few years and as a result has seen millions of dollars of homeowner deficiencies waived by the banks, who are becoming more eager to avoid foreclosure and complete short sales.

On New Year’s Eve we’ll post our top 5 stories for 2011 — Happy Holidays!

Just Listed: South Florida Law Blog Named AllTop’s “Best of the Best”

OppenheimLaw — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 18:02:10 +0000

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.”

And the Winner is…South Florida Law Blog! Named Best Business and Tech Blog by Sun-Sentinel readers

OppenheimLaw — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 21:15:06 +0000

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.

Sun-Sentinel Best of Blogs Nominations: South Florida Law Blog and @OpLaw!

OppenheimLaw — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 18:06:04 +0000

It’s that time of year again…let the voting begin for The Sun-Sentinel’s Best of Blogs Awards! For the second year in a row, Oppenheim Law is honored to be nominated. This year, our South Florida Law Blog received nominations in Business and Technology, Politics, and News. @OpLaw, our Twitter feed, is nominated for Best Business Twitter feed.

South Florida Law Blog features Ft. Lauderdale foreclosure defense attorney Roy Oppenheim’s blog. Topics include the latest opinions, views and perspective on real estate news, foreclosure defense, the economy, the foreclosure fraud crisis, and Oppenheim Law’s foreclosure defense workshop.

You can vote for your favorite blog by logging in via your Facebook, Twitter or Sun-Sentinel account. Voting ends Monday, April 11 at 10 a.m.

We look forward to continuing to bring you the latest and greatest in real estate, foreclosure defense and economic news and trends.

From everyone at Oppenheim Law, thank you for your continued support!

Red Carpet Winners, Short Sales and Oppenheim Law’s March Real Estate Workshop

OppenheimLaw — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 14:47:59 +0000

Join Florida Foreclosure Defense and Short Sale Attorney Roy Oppenheim March 9th at 6 PM.

“Not a single financial executive has gone to jail”…that is how Producer Charles Ferguson rocked the Oscars by starting his acceptance speech for winning best feature documentary for ”Inside Job,” a film about the 2008 financial system meltdown. How appropriate.

Meanwhile, Florida real estate is no red carpet winner when it comes to the housing market. Oppenheim Law announces its real estate webinar streaming live Wednesday March 9th at 6 pm, designed to help Florida homeowners use today’s economic conditions to their advantage and fashion their own bailouts.

In this timely workshop, Oppenheim shares fresh insights, including:

How the rising price of oil will affect the American job market, and in turn affect the housing market.
What these trends mean for Florida foreclosure defense and how homeowners can use these events to their advantage to engineer and structure a short sale.
The impact that a sluggish start to the national “selling season” will have on a local level.
Why home prices will continue to drop in the months ahead.
And how a double dip recession could impact homeowners in the coming months.

Florida real estate is not immune to the financial system melt down or the recent world events, according to Florida Foreclosure Defense Attorney and Legal Blogger Roy Oppenheim.

As revolutionary tremors continue to spread through the Middle East and actual tremors rocked New Zealand with a 6.3 magnitude earthquake, Oppenheim Law offers insight on how these international events could impact Florida’s real estate market as well as sharing the latest legal trends in foreclosure defense and short sales strategies.

What: Global Impact on Florida Short Sales and Foreclosures Workshop

Where: Oppenheim Law TV

Or come in person:

95 NW 11th St., Boca Raton, FL 33432

Cost: Free with advanced registration

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

Top 2010 Foreclosure Headlines from South Florida Law Blog

OppenheimLaw — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 14:44:58 +0000

As we approach the close of one of the most historical years in Florida real estate, the South Florida Law Blog wants to thank all of you for supporting our efforts throughout the year. In case you missed some posts, we are highlighting some of the interesting twists and turns the past year has delivered from “what to tell your kids about foreclosure” to the breaking of the foreclosure fraud crisis. If you have any suggestions for topics you’d like us to cover in 2011, or ways we can improve the blog, please let us know.

In the meantime, here are the top 2010 headlines from South Florida Law blog:

1. What to Tell Our Kids About Foreclosure: From the Heart

2. Roy Oppenheim on “Asset Protection” Discusses Deficiency Judgments and Homeowner Negotiating Power

3. Even More Embarrassment for Banks: Foreclosure Fraud

4. Roy Oppenheim on Strategic Foreclosure: Shay’s Rebellion 2.0

5. Back To School: Learn the ABC’s and D for Deflation?

6. How the Banks Aren’t Playing Fair: CBS News, Roy Oppenheim Talks with Investigative Reporter Stephen Stock

7. Roy Oppenheim to the Wall Street Journal: “Your editorial will make future investors think twice about entire system”

8. Cracked! Humpty Dumpty, Chase, and GMAC: The Bank Mortgage Foreclosure Fraud Crisis Continues to Fall by Roy Oppenheim

9. The F Words: Fraud and Foreclosure – Watch Roy Oppenheim’s Workshop Replay on Bank Fraud and Mortgage Foreclosure

10. Foreclosure Defense in a New York Times Minute with Roy Oppenheim