South Florida Law Blog

After the horrific collapse of the Champlain Towers in Surfside, the Governor signed into law that structural inspections are required of most condos over 30 years old, or 25 years old if located within three miles of the coast.  Reports of these inspections must be presented to condo owners, condo associations, and local municipalities. If the inspections show major structural […]

According to a 2022 Census report, Florida now is the fastest-growing state for the first time since 1957 and the third largest state besides California and Texas. Florida’s population increased by 1.9% to 22,244,823 between 2021 and 2022. Since 1946, Florida’s percentage increase in population has fluctuated but remained positive. The advent of air conditioning in the 1950s brought increased […]

Foreclosures and Loosening Credit: Reevaluating Risk In a perfect world, there would be no foreclosures, as people would have enough resources to make their monthly mortgages. We all can agree that the substantial number of foreclosures during the Great Recession was painful (some estimates indicate that 3.8 million homeowners lost their home to foreclosure from 2007 to 2010); however, the […]

Who Really Benefits? Homeowner Benefit Agreements are a type of controversial residential listing agreement between the homeowner and a real estate broker. For an upfront fee paid by the real estate broker to the homeowner, these agreements provide that the real estate broker will be the exclusive listing agent for the future sale of the homeowner’s property and shall be […]

As it is the firm’s annual tradition, we wish to take a moment and reflect upon those things for that we are thankful. Foremost, we are continually thankful for each other, good health, and for the freedom we enjoy by living in our great nation. This Thanksgiving, the words “thanks” and “giving” continue to bring new meaning. For one, we […]

With mortgage interest rates breaking 7% as the Federal Reserve attempts to quell inflation,  there is much “doom and gloom” news about the housing market. The National Association of Realtors report decreased home contracts falling for the fourth straight month in September, down 31% compared to last September.  A typical homebuyer in October paid 77% more on their loan per […]

With increased mortgage interest rates, many sellers are debating whether to sell their homes. These sellers face the same issue as many potential home buyers: pressure from rising interest rates. Why? Unless a seller obtains a cash buyer for their property, many home buyers may not be able to afford the home they wish because of increasing interest rates. In […]

For years, we have been talking about the impact of climate change on South Florida real estate. I have said in the past that change would likely not come slowly, but that rather it will at some point, become an imminent change. With the images of the destruction from the west coast of Florida from Hurricane Ian, we see close […]