Miami Real Estate Attorney Blog

Since President Obama took office, the City of Weston has seen a 15.1% increase in home values. That makes the City of Weston the top performing housing market in the nation since February 2009 to August 2011.

On the other hand, and just 50 miles south of Weston, the City of Homestead earns the mark as having the worst performing housing market in that time span. The City of Homestead has seen home prices drop 48.8% since February 2009.

South Florida's real estate market has been recently aided with the influx of foreign purchasers. But South Florida's real estate market still has a long way to go before it fully recovers. The disparate treatment in cities separate by just 50 miles is indicative of the up and down nature of our real estate market.

Recently, renewed efforts to shore up the housing market has included a new program designed to help homeowners re-finance their homes. The re-vamped HARP is designed to allow people who owe significantly more on their mortgages than their properties are worth to re-finance their home.

Meanwhile, the banks are continuing to churn through the high volume of foreclosures on their ledger with no end in sight. This shadow inventory of homes will hinder the full recovery of the housing market for years. Until the shadow inventory of homes is fully diluted, South Florida's housing market will not return to a healthy thriving market.

Continue reading "We're Still Far Away from a Full Housing Recovery While South Florida Exhibits the Best and Worst of Today's Housing Market" »

Relief may be coming in the form of a new government program intended to aid millions of struggling homeowners.

The new program is intended to revive the government's Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) program. The HARP program was intended to help spur re-financing for many homeowners so they could take advantage of the historically low interest rates and potentially save hundreds of dollars a month.

The HARP program, however, has not worked as it was initially intended. Many stumbling blocks have prevented the program in reaching many homeowners in some of the hardest hit regions of the country. One of the biggest involved the requirement surrounding home equity.

But the new changes to HARP should hopefully change that and make it easier for millions to re-finance their mortgages.

For instance, to become eligible for the new HARP, a homeowner must have a mortgage sold to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac on or before May 31, 2009. The homeowner must also be current in their payments and without any late payments in the past six months. Additionally, some fees were also eliminated on loans that run 20 years or less and lowered on longer term mortgages. In some cases, the homeowner will also no longer need a new appraisal on the home, which should reduce the refinance costs.

Additionally, and of significance, there is no limit on how deeply underwater someone can be as long as they re-finance into a 30 year fixed mortgage.

The new changes should not only benefit many homeowners, but should also help financial institutions become fewer homeowners will eventually default.

But one of the biggest factors that will drive the success of this new program will be interest rates. Today interest rates are hovering at historically low levels. For instance, the average rate for a 30 year mortgage today is 4.2%. If interest rates rise, however, this program may not be as attractive to many.

Navigating these waters can be difficult, but we are experienced in handling real estate matters. Many alternatives exist to struggling homeowners. At Alvarez & Barbara, LLP, we are prepared to help you with your real estate needs. Contact us today.

Continue reading "Re-Financing Your Home Just Got Easier With the Unveiling of a New Program Intended to Help Millions of Struggling Homeowners" »

They are at it again. Our Florida legislators may attempt to tinker with the foreclosure system in the State of Florida to the detriment of all homeowners in the State of Florida. And this after such an effort failed last year.

There is no question that Florida's courts are flooded with foreclosure filings and lawsuits. Our court system needs relief from all the filings.

As such, Florida lawmakers are flirting with plans to take foreclosures out of the judicial system. The proposed bill would allow banks to skip legal proceedings all together and have foreclosures proceed on a non-judicial basis. In other words, Florida's judiciary would no longer have to rule on foreclosure disputes.

While taking foreclosures out of the judicial system may seem like a good idea, it is not.

This controversial piece of legislation would weaken the voices of the many distressed homeowners in Florida by depriving them of their basic due process rights to a hearing, and notice.

That is especially significant given the current climate of alleged foreclosure fraud. The issues stem from a direct result of allegations of robo signing, fraud, documentation errors, issues with process servers, problems servicing loan modifications, and other similar issues, which have prompted many lenders to slow down the foreclosure process.

But without basic due process rights to notice and a hearing many of these suspect practices may have never come to light. And many unsuspecting home owners would have lost their homes unnecessarily so as a result.

Florida has the nation's second highest foreclosure rate, and is one of 20 states that require all foreclosures to go through the court system.

Court action isn't needed in Michigan, Arizona, California and Nevada -- other states with high foreclosure rates. On average, foreclosure proceedings in those states take from 392 days in Arizona to 511 in California.

In Florida it takes 638 days.

Continue reading "Legislation is being Considered that Would Remove Foreclosures from the Judiciary and bypass Judges all together" »

Fannie Mae know about the "robo signing" allegations, as well as other problems with the foreclosure handling, as far back as 2003.

Such allegations are the subject of state attorney generals, including Florida's, across the country, into how lenders and their law firms ignored proper procedures to handle the avalanche of the foreclosure paperwork.

According to recent news reports, an unnamed shareholder warned Fannie Mae of alleged foreclosure abuses in 2003. Fannie Mae responded by hiring a law firm to investigate the claims in 2005. The law firm reported in 2006 that it had found foreclosure attorneys in Florida were routinely filing false pleadings and affidavits.

Presumably, one of the law offices in Florida that was beset with problems was the law offices of David J. Stern. Mr. Stern recently closed his office, but left a mess in the wake of his hastily withdraw on thousands of foreclosure files.

That has included investigations and lawsuits. The investigations have revealed that many in the foreclosure pipeline have cut corners to the detriment of innocent homeowners.

Fraud is widespread in foreclosure cases. It appears to be a systemic problem. Despite this fact, its not easy to spot. It takes an experienced foreclosure defense attorney to spot fraud. But spotting the fraud is not even half the battle. The challenging part is attacking the fraud and establishing the appropriate strategy.

Navigating these waters can be difficult, but we are experienced in handling foreclosure matters. People often think that foreclosure defense basically entails delaying the "inevitable" - a foreclosure. However, many alternatives exist. At Alvarez & Barbara, we don't buy time to delay the inevitable. We buy to time to find a solution that suits each individual client.

Continue reading "Improper Foreclosure Practices Were Known by Fannie Mae as Far Back as 2003" »

Research has revealed what many have known for some time. Losing your home is enough to make you sick.

The research reveals that economic well-being and physical well-being are indeed connected. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that the ongoing national foreclosure crisis is having a significant impact on mental health as well as on a wide range of preventable conditions that are susceptible to stress.

The research focused on four states that were hardest hit by the ongoing foreclosure crisis. One of those four states was Florida, which ranks second nationally in the number of foreclosures.

Each state was analyzed by zip code comparing foreclosure rates to reports of emergency room visits and hospital admissions for stress-related conditions from April 2005 through December 2009.

For every 100 foreclosed properties in a community, emergency room and hospital admissions went up 7.2% for hypertension and 8.1% for diabetes among those age 20 to 49.

Suicide attempts also went up significantly, as did vitals and admissions related to anxiety.

Don't let the economy ruin your health. If you feel as though you are the brink of financial disaster, then it is imperative that you find a healthy outlet for that stress before the health problems become serious.

Additionally, if you are struggling in today's market, you certainly have alternatives available to you that could assist you are you shaving your home or avoiding foreclosure. Help is often available to those who seek it.

Continue reading "Losing Your Home Is Enough To Make You Sick" »