South Florida Law Blog

The Federal Reserve has put on its hiking boots. Last week, the Federal Reserve hiked its benchmark interest rates. Homeowners and prospective buyers alike are rightfully alarmed about what the increased interest rates could signal for the housing market. Since the great recession back in 2007, homeowners enjoyed relatively lower interest rates as the federal government attempted to rebuild the […]

Years after its inception, Zillow became a household name for people who wanted to purchase or sell their homes quickly without a realtor.  By providing an online database of available homes for sale using “Zestimates” for the properties, Zillow gave the general public an easy-to-use format to calculate home values. Although there has been speculation as to whether Zillow will […]

  It seems as though there is something paranormal about the way bankruptcy proceedings will now deal with stale, old debt. Previously, creditors were not able to make claims in bankruptcy proceedings for stale debts that were time-barred by the Statute of Limitations.  Generally, most creditors’ claims on these old debts were considered “unconscionable” and thus in violation of the […]

  In early March, we posted a blog regarding a Grand Jury decision that held Florida’s Department of Business and Professional Regulation (“DBPR”) and condo boards liable for condo association misconduct. Well, it didn’t take long to heed the calls for further action. The Florida legislature has now passed a bill with bipartisan support (yes, you read that right) to […]

With all the discussion regarding the real estate market’s volatility, one scenario has been largely overlooked especially with the implications it would have on South Florida. A recent article by Bloomberg shed more light on the detrimental effect rising sea levels would have on South Florida coastal homeowners. Having represented thousands of underwater homeowners, we take the threat of being […]

It bothers me every day that the cost of going to college has increased eight-fold from when I went to school – that’s right 800% –  yet work-study wages have only doubled from the time I mopped floors and loaded dishwashers. What does that say about affordability in general? And particularly, one’s ability to pay for housing. With the March […]

With the ongoing rift between the baby boomers and millennials, at times it seems like a war of blame for anything that goes wrong in today’s society. However, there is a striking similarity in mindset and adjusting to the realities when it comes to the housing market. Here are the similarities between baby boomers and millennials: 1. Owning a home […]

It’s no secret that a strong housing market is an essential part of any well balanced economy. Earlier this week, The Wall Street Journal presented troublesome figures on home buying and housing-related spending. This gave us insight, primarily citing strict credit standards, as to why the U.S. economy has not had a meaningful bounce-back as in previous post-recession recoveries. In […]