South Florida Law Blog

Humpty Dumpty has had his great fall, thanks to an outstanding bankruptcy judge who has all but dismantled the Mortgage Electronic Registration System (MERS) thanks to his recent ruling.‪​‪ Last week New York Judge Robert Grossman ruled that all of MERS’ business practices are illegal. It’s a staggering blow to the banks and their endless efforts to circumvent due process. […]

If there was anything positive that came out of the prolonged discussions between the states and the banks on the mortgage servicing settlement, it was that banks were reluctant to go full steam ahead in the foreclosure process while talks were ongoing. But even before the settlement was announced, we saw signs that pointed to more foreclosures in 2012. According […]

AGs Weeks From Filing Foreclosure Settlement Documents Yesterday we expressed concern because we have yet to see the formal documents behind last week’s landmark $25 billion settlement, and it seems few people actually have. HousingWire reports, through an unnamed source, that federal prosecutors plan to file them in court by the end of the month. But of course herein lies […]

There were two players conspicuously absent when last week’s $25 Billion settlement was unveiled; two players that absolutely should have been front and center. What are their names? If you’ve followed the housing crisis as closely as we have, then you probably know. Our old and unwanted cousins Fannie and Freddie. Their omission from the settlement was perhaps its biggest […]

For 5 years now we’ve been a huge champion of the short sale. We’ve been banging and banging away at the banks because they didn’t share our opinion. There has long been an institutional reluctance among our nation’s lenders to embrace the short sale, but it appears they are finally coming around. According to Corelogic’s most recent numbers, short sales […]

The clock may have run out on this year’s Super Bowl (Way to go Giants!!) but there’s still a few minutes left in this year’s REAL grudge match, the Banks vs. the Attorney Generals. It’s 4th and Inches, the score is tied, and it would be nice to avoid overtime. Today we could learn whether the much-discussed robo-signing settlement with […]

Freddie Mac’s Regulator ‘Completely Puzzled’ by Allegations of Conflict If Edward DeMarco is puzzled by the outrage over the revelation that Freddie Mac was investing in securities that paid off if homeowners couldn’t refinance, then call us puzzled by his puzzlement. Either he’s a bold-faced liar or he is just plain dense. Does he really not get it? DeMarco, the […]

I have to give Suze Orman credit. One thing that’s taken a huge hit in the housing crisis is people’s credit scores. I’ve seen it with plenty of good responsible homeowners. The reality is that most people who overextended themselves during this financial crisis did so because they had good credit scores. In fact when I used to ask people […]