South Florida Law Blog

OVERVIEW: Market effects of real estate Overproduction Purchasing less consumer goods With mortgage rates surging past 6% this week, the cost of home ownership is becoming more out of reach for borrowers. Some borrowers are deciding to wait, hoping that prices and rates will fall as the overall market and inflation slows with it. Other home buyers, however, are opting […]

Real Estate deed fraud unfortunately is on the rise. Recently, the Sun Sentinel reported that a property owner’s vacant land was sold by a person who pretended that he was the actual landowner in order to obtain the proceeds of a fraudulent mortgage refinancing. Initially, the alleged fraudster created a company using his name as the owner of the property […]

OVERVIEW: Why the housing market has been hot in 2022 What factors suggest prices are starting to cool down How homes prices will affect the economy For the sixth straight month, the number of U.S. home sales have decreased, the longest decline in more than eight years. Higher mortgage rates and  purchase prices are just two overall reasons for this […]

The Florida Legislature unanimously approved a condominium safety bill, S.B. 4D,  this past week, which now awaits the Governor’s signing. Pursuant to that bill, buildings three stories or higher and thirty years old will have to undergo strict safety inspections and every ten years thereafter. Buildings within three miles of the coast must be inspected before they are twenty-five years […]

As we discussed in an earlier blog, the 2022 Florida State Legislature had before them a proposed law which would have created one of the strictest condo inspection and reserve funding requirements within the United States. The legislation was an attempt to prevent tragedies such as  the horrific Surfside, FL collapse last June, which raised issues of condo ownership, collective […]

Currently, Florida lawmakers are about to pass on a bipartisan basis one of the strictest condo inspection and reserve funding requirements within the United States. The legislation is an attempt to prevent tragedies such as  the horrific Surfside, FL collapse last June, which raised issues of condo ownership, collective responsibility for condo maintenance and upkeep, and inadequate reserves. Picture courtesy […]

As rents continue to escalate, many renters are being forced to move. Rents in West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, and Miami have increased  a little over 34% last year, leaving some people sleeping in their cars. This is at a time when inflation continues to escalate with prices rising 7.5% in January compared to last year, the largest increase since […]

Whether Russia invades Ukraine has not only tremendous political but also global financial consequences. The United States has already threatened sanctions targeting Russia’s ability to send money throughout the world.  Perhaps the most far-reaching financial sanction would be to block folks in Russia the ability to use the internationally renowned and recognized Belgium based SWIFT system of payments that moves […]