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.
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.
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. (more…)
“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.
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. (more…)
If the first two weeks of 2011 are any indication, we’re in for a roller coaster year for the real estate economy.
From unleashing the Foreclosure Fraud Files to the Ibanez decision that banks had wrongly foreclosed on two homes, the foreclosure defense climate changed hourly.
Oppenheim echoed a similar sentiment to the Dow Jones MarketWatch and financial news service DebtWire: “I am expecting the banks to do fewer foreclosures and to engage in serious conversation in pre-foreclosure with borrowers.”
In an interview later in the week, Oppenheim told Real Estate Writer Paul Owers “The writing is on the wall that foreclosures aren’t going anywhere,” in the story End in Sight for the Foreclosure Epidemic?
Wondering what this means for Florida homeowners? Is 2011 the year of the short sale or the strategic default? Catch the replay of Oppenheim Law’s monthly Foreclosure Defense workshop on Oppenheim Law TV for the next ten days!
We’re just half way through the first month of 2011 and foreclosure fraud continues to make headline news. Tonight Oppenheim Law will be in Boca Raton hosting our monthly foreclosure defense workshop “The Future of Foreclosures”.
Tonight we will answer your questions live online or in person.
Tune in to the webcast via Oppenheim Law TV for The Future of Foreclosures Workshop
Tonight at 6 p.m.,
or come in person to the Boca Raton studio located at
95 NW 11th St., Boca Raton, FL 33432.
If you are a Florida homeowner facing foreclosure, you may not be thinking about the long-term economy. But Roy Oppenheim, a Florida foreclosure defense attorney, sees the big picture and how it relates to the foreclosure crisis.
Oppenheim offered Florida homeowners his insights on the economy in a recent interview on the talk show “Mind of Money” with Asset Protection Attorney Douglass Lodmell.
As Oppenheim sees it, Florida homeowners—whether they are in a foreclosure crisis or not—have to recognize that the current state of the economy is the new norm. There isn’t going to a rapid change in today’s economy.
“We need to look at what happened in Japan with the lost decade. This could be a lost generation,” Oppenheim says. “I’m not trying to scare people, but you need to understand that the Federal Reserve throwing $600 billion into the economy to prevent it from deflating further suggests that there are real serious problems with this economy.”
What is the way out? Oppenheim offered three possible paths Florida homeowners should be aware of as they make decisions about foreclosure defense strategies. The U.S. could opt for any of these three strategies:
1. The Third World Approach: Inflating the U.S. dollar so that Florida homeowners have more money, debt is worth less and easier to pay off, but real estate is worth more. Oppenheim says this is the current direction the government is taking.
2. Open the Borders: Allowing immigrants who can invest $250,000 or more into the economy to settle here. If upper middle class people from around the world come to America, it will create a demand for products and services. (more…)
What do you do if your house is in foreclosure? Do you put your head in the sand and enter into the financial crisis? Or do you launch a foreclosure defense?
Roy Oppenheim, a respected Florida real estate and foreclosure defense attorney, offered strategic advice for Florida homeowners in a recent interview on the talk show “Mind of Money” with Asset Protection Attorney Douglass Lodmell.
“The bank crisis is a wonderful opportunity to literally engage the bank in hand to hand combat. There’s an old expression that says to keep your friends close and your enemies closer. You need to bring the bank to you,” Oppenheim says.
Engage the bank like you would engage the enemy.
“Once you’ve engaged the bank, you can then attack them on their fraudulent documentation, if there is any. And more importantly you can engage them to do a short sale, a loan modification or a deed in lieu of foreclosure, or maybe a restructured foreclosure. There are many options.”
Of course, Oppenheim says, before you engage the bank you need to assemble a foreclosure defense team. The good news is the bank is usually willing to negotiate. Oppenheim says banks understand it could take 18 to 20 months—at a price tag of about $1,000 a month—to carry a piece of property that’s in foreclosure. The bank also risks sanctions for any illegal activity with the mortgage. Oppenheim says it’s in the bank’s best interest to find some sort of workout.
What if? The dreaded deficiency judgment.
“At the end of the day, our end game is to make sure that at all costs there is not a deficiency judgment against our clients.” None of our clients that we have defended from the beginning have had a deficiency judgment entered against them. “That may change. If we exhaust all options, we would consider bankruptcy.” (more…)
As Florida leads the nation in mortgage delinquency; Foreclosure Defense Attorney Roy Oppenheim announces Oppenheim Law’s 26th consecutive monthly foreclosure defense workshop, now scheduled for Wednesday December 8, 2010 from 6:00 to 7:00pm. Oppenheim, who has coached thousands of homeowners through his seminars, will focus on how homeowners can fashion their own bailout through strategic default.
Tune into Oppenheim Law TV or come in person to the Boca Raton studio located at 95 NW 11th St., Boca Raton, FL 33432.
Please RSVP via email jackie@oplaw.net or call 954.384.6114.
Continuing our list here’s Pt. 2 of our Top 10 stories for 2011 — 
