South Florida Law Blog

Who 
would ever have thought that WE…and that includes YOU… all my blog, Facebook and Twitter 
friends…. would become the 4th most important legal trend of the decade. Check out The National Law Journal’s excerpt on The 25 Legal Stories That Defined The Decade. Social Media was #4 and I shared my thoughts with The National Law Journal’s Tresa Baldis […]

As I write this, I’m preparing for a two-week trip to South America with my family (packing my bags now). By the time you read this, I hope to be relaxing and enjoying the opportunity to reconnect and recharge. But first some last words for the year… It’s hard to believe the South Florida Law Blog is now approaching its […]

As a foreclosure defense and real estate attorney at South Florida’s Oppenheim Law, I witnessed striking developments in the Florida real estate and legal landscape throughout this year. As 2009 comes to a close, the blogger in me decided to reflect on a year that we’ll never forget. In 2009, the United States experienced presidential history and remarkable scandals and […]

It was 4:30 p.m. on Thanksgiving eve at my office, and I was enjoying a moment of quiet phones as I cleared my desk and my mind. The one call that did come was from The Wall Street Journal Real Estate reporter James (Bob) R. Hagarty. He was working on a story about homeowners who are creating their own bailouts, […]

For almost three years now I have talked about the idea that the American Dream of homeownership was really only a mirage. While policymakers had good intentions, homeownership has in many instances become the American Nightmare for numerous systematic reasons including: greed, lax government regulation and pure fraud. In a wonderful front page analysis in today’s Wall Street Journal, they […]

WSJ reporter, James Hagerty, arguably one of the best reporters covering the real estate crisis and with whom I speak with from time-to time wrote a great article this morning concerning professional investors who are going to auction, fixing up the houses and then flipping them for a profit. (Also take the time to look at the slides and related […]

I am fortunate that I frequently get forwarded items that are meant for the blog. This particular item comes from a close relative who I know does not want their name disclosed. So I say thank you and encourage all my readers to continue to send me material that you would like me to share and let me know if […]

While mortgage modifications continue to be a huge problem for the Obama administration, they seem to be following the advice of the geeks at the Federal Reserve and from the folks in the “Trenches“. (See WSJ Article). You are eligible to do a short sale if (1) you have a government backed loan (Fannie, Freddie, VA, etc.), (2) its your […]