Miami Real Estate Attorney Blog

If you answered that they both played football in college, you would be correct. Burt Reynolds played football for FSU, while OJ Simpson had a highly decorated football career that culminated with an induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame after having won a Heisman Trophy at USC.

But they share something else in common. They have both been hit with foreclosures.

Burt Reynolds faces the prospect of losing his waterfront home in Hobe Sound, Florida after failing to make mortgage payments for almost a year.

OJ Simpson's home in South Miami is now in foreclosure because he was sentenced to jail and has failed to make a payment while he has been incarcerated.

The foreclosures of Burt Reynolds and OJ Simpson simply serve as a reminder that foreclosures have hit both rich and poor alike like an epidemic.

But for those if you facing foreclosure, there is hope. A proper plan could help aleviate the stress involved with the foreclosure, and help navigate out of those rough waters. Often times there are alternatives to foreclosure, but just takes planning to help address each alternative.

As for what will become of OJ Simpson's home after the foreclosure, a local news report suggests that PETA wants to turn his home into a vegetarian museum. PETA may end up working with the bank to purchase the home and help solve OJ Simpson's pending foreclosure. It just serves to illustrate that there are alternatives to foreclosure. It just takes exploring and planning to find them.

Continue reading "Real Estate Round Up - What do Burt Reynolds and OJ Simpson have in Common?" »

Florida's annual legislative session is about to get under way. Florida's legislators are about to contemplate many significant issues this legislative session. Chief among them includes re-districting and gambling.

But the ongoing foreclosures crises in Florida will also be front and center. Several laws have been introduced that could impact the method and manner in which banks foreclose on properties in Florida, and especially here in South Florida.

One of the issues being addressed this legislative session involves deficiency judgments in foreclosures.

For instance, lenders are often entitled to judgments against the homeowner to make up the difference between the mortgage debt and the amount recovered at the foreclosure auction. Those judgments against the homeowners are good 20 years.

This pending bill tries to strike a balance between homeowners and lenders. It tries to create a way for lenders and homeowners to satisfy a deficiency judgment in exchange for homeowners doing certain things.

The bill states that homeowners in default on homestead purchased from 1/1/04 to 12/31/08, may receive a waiver of deficiency and up to $1,000 in moving expenses if they settle their foreclosure actions with a non-monetary judgment and vacate the property within three months of the judgment or judicial sale, whichever is later.

The state fund would be used to give lenders incentive to settle by helping them recoup some of their losses where properties are worth less than the mortgage balance.

Continue reading "Florida Legislators Ponder Changes to Florida's Foreclosure Laws" »

If the current foreclosure crisis were a football game, we would be in half time right now. Based in large part on new data that was recently released it appears as though the foreclosure crisis is only about halfway over.

New home foreclosures recently increased while the number of borrowers falling behind on their payments decreased slightly. Not surprisingly, borrowers with subprime adjustable mortgages saw the biggest jump in foreclosures recently.

Almost 5% of all subprime loans recently entered into the foreclosure pipeline, up from 3.6% in the second quarter. One of the main reasons for that increased foreclosure spike was the expiration of the foreclosure moratorium placed on a number of states. In other words, many states were recently given the go ahead to file new foreclosure actions against borrowers who have fallen behind on their payments.

Additionally, another reason for the recent spike in foreclosure activity is that many of the borrowers who have fallen behind were not approved for a loan modification or other program to help save their home.

On the other hand, the pace of new foreclosures for all loans for this time last year was actually down. Simply put, there were less foreclosures filed at the same point this year than there were compared with last year at this point in time.

Overall, the pace of new foreclosures for all loans was up by almost 11% in the third quarter from 9% in the prior three-month period. That's down from 1.3% in the same period a year ago.

As for the overall health of the nation's current real estate market, a lot still depends on the economy of the whole. The economy is still not producing jobs fast enough to aid the nation's housing market.

Additionally, continued improvement in home sales and home prices will depend heavily on the volume of foreclosed homes in the housing market. Recent housing data suggests that many lenders have barely made a dent in the overall inventory of foreclosed homes.

As such, there is no question that this is a buyer's market. Indeed, South Florida's real estate market has picked up some steam recently due in large to foreigners investing in South Florida.

Continue reading "The Foreclosure Crisis Continues to Haunt South Florida's Real Estate Market" »

If you feel as though your home was improperly foreclosed in either 2009 or 2010, then there may be recourse for you yet.

The Federal Reserve Board recently announced that homeowners who believe that robo signing and other such issues hurt them during the foreclosure process can complain directly to the Federal Reserve for potential recourse.

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency is beginning a multifaceted independent review of foreclosure actions. Their review will apply to homeowners that went through the foreclosure process and will involve some of the largest banks and mortgage service on in the country. They include GMAC mortgage, HSBC Finance Corporation, SunTrust mortgage, and EMC Mortgage Corporation, among others. The major banks, including Bank of America, Chase, Citibank, Wells Fargo, GMAC, and EMC, will have to fund these independent reviews to evaluate whether borrowers suffered financial injury through error, misrepresentation, fraud, or other deficiencies in the foreclosure process.

If the homeowner was injured during the foreclosure process, then the homeowner could get some kind of remedy for the misrepresentations that took place during the foreclosure process.

The major mortgage services began sending out letters to eligible homeowners recently to explain the process. A homeowner's request for review must be received by April 30, 2012.

So could a homeowner get there home back? Probably not. In all likelihood, that home has probably already been sold. But each case will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. And if an appropriate remedy is the return of an unsold home to a homeowner, then it is certainly possible. But more realistically, the likely remedy will probably be some form of compensation.

Continue reading "Time is Now to Challenge Your Foreclosure Thanks to a new Government Program Aimed at Fighting Robo-Signing and Fraud" »

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" »

The Federal Reserve recently announced details of its plan to revive the housing market. The plan is called "Operation Twist."

As a result of said announcement by the Fed, the average rates on conventional 30 year fixed mortgages fell to 4.01%. Rates on 15 year mortgages fell to 3.28%.

Operation Twist may lower these mortgage rates even further since the Fed's stated objective of Operation Twist is to push long term rates down further. Especially since mortgage rates tend to track the yield on 10 year Treasury notes.

But low rates have done little to boost homes rates or refinancing to date. Indeed, recent reports are rather gloomy regarding sales to date. Moreover, banks are apparently ramping up their foreclosure efforts and pushing more homeowners into foreclosure.

All of this suggests a very difficult real estate market. Accordingly, struggling homeowners should contact our office to meet with one of our Miami foreclosure defense attorneys today. Those who are in danger of losing their home to a foreclosure should examine the situation, with the aid of one of our attorneys, in greater detail.

Homeowners have many alternatives available to them to fight a foreclosure or even shrinking home equity. But homeowners must be armed with as much information as possible to decide what is best for them regarding the ongoing foreclosure crises.

In what seems like a reversal of roles, a homeowner showed up at a Bank of America with a truck ready to haul away furniture for public action in order to enforce a court order.

Back in 2009, the homeowner and his wife purchased a home in the Fort Myers area without taking out a mortgage - they purchased it cash. However, about 5 months ago, Bank of America started foreclosure proceedings against them for non-payment of their mortgage. Well, of course they weren't paying! They had no mortgage at all!

The bank did eventually drop the case. Nonetheless, it cost the homeowner about $2,500 in legal fees to defend the case. Luckily, a judge ordered the bank to reimburse him for his legal expenses. But for some unknown reason the bank never paid up. That is why the homeowner had to show and attempt to repossess property. After being there for one hour with deputies and moving trucks, the bank handed the homeowner a check.

Whenever a lender dismisses a case, or even if a judge does so, you may be entitled to recovery attorney's fees from the bank that tried to foreclose on your home. More often than not, the mortgage and note will contain language that says the prevailing party is entitled to recover fees. If a judge dismisses a foreclosure case, the homeowner is the obvious prevailing party. Therefore, recovery of attorney's fees may be possible if a judge orders it.

Indeed, our firm has recovered thousands of dollars in legal fees from the banks in foreclosures actions where we have prevailed.

At Alvarez & Barbara, LLP, we have extensive experience defending foreclosure cases. Not only have we worked to get cases dismissed, we've been able to recover attorney's fees for our clients as well. If you're in default or are already facing a foreclosure lawsuit, don't hesitate to contact us for a consultation.

Continue reading "Bank of America Pays Legal Fees to Homeowner in Failed Foreclosure" »

Miami continues to lead the three counties in South Florida in foreclosures. In May, Miami had 1913 foreclosures, with Fort Lauderdale logging 955 and West Palm Beach reporting 747 new foreclosures.

But if there is some good news in those numbers it is that those numbers are way down when compared to the same period last year. Foreclosure activity has slowed down in the recent months. The slow down is a direct result of allegations of robo signing, fraud, documentation errors, issues with process servers, problems servicing loan modifications, and other similar issues, have prompted many lenders to slow down the foreclosure process which in turn has slowed down the housing recovery.

On the other hand, and in May, South Florida's three counties combined to produce more than 6600 foreclosures. Miami Dade county had 2768 new foreclosures, a drop of more than 60%, year-over-year, while Broward county had 1872 new foreclosures and Palm Beach county had 2006. Moreover, the inventory of properties in foreclosure has also declined during the past six months.

But foreclosure processing delays continue to mask the true face of the foreclosure situation. Nationally, foreclosure activity declined, with foreclosure filings i.e. default notices, scheduled auctions, and bank repossessions, reported a 2% decrease from April and a 33% decrease from May of 2010.

Reports also show that one in every 605 household nationally received a foreclosure filing during the month of May.

And despite a 62% decrease from May of 2010, a total of 19,192 Florida properties received a foreclosure filing in May, the second-highest a total nationally.

Continue reading "Foreclosure Slowdown Continues in Miami and South Florida" »

In 2010 state legislators awarded Miami Dade County close to $1 million in an effort to help eliminate the backlog of foreclosures. The objective was to have as many foreclosures in and out of the judiciary within a year.

That funding has now ended. And as of today, Miami Dade County have more than 58,000 foreclosure case is pending.

Foreclosure activity has slowed down in the recent months. The slow down is a direct result of allegations of robo signing, fraud, documentation errors, issues with process servers, problems servicing loan modifications, and other similar issues, have prompted many lenders to slow down the foreclosure process which in turn has slowed down the housing recovery. Florida's Attorney General eventually announced an investigation into these alleged practices.

Nonetheless, our housing recovery cannot fully get underway until the back log of foreclosure, and the so called shadow inventory, are all disposed of. Many are estimating that with so many foreclosures still looming, that the housing market will not fully recovery for at least another 24 months.

Starting July 1st, Miami Dade County foreclosures courts are set to undergo significant transformation when last year's emergency funds dry up and the overburdened judicial system is forced to function with less money. They proposed changes that are coming to Miami Dade county were recently outlined by the courts Chief Judge at a recent town hall meeting in the courthouse.

Given the expiration of the emergency funds that were given last year, and effective July 1, Miami-Dade will now handle foreclosures in the following manner:

• Judges will be pulled from other divisions that will hear foreclosures that are more than two years old, and these judges will be replacing the retired judges that were hired last year to specifically handle the foreclosure file.

• Law School volunteers will be in charge of screening case files, replacing the paid screeners that were funded by the one time grant.

• Hearing notices will be sent via e-mail. The paper system will be replaced with an electronic system that will hopefully save the judiciary time and money.

• Possibly most significantly, lawyers for the banks will now only have one opportunity at a summary judgment hearing. If the summary judgment is denied, or if the paperwork as incomplete for whatever reason, then the case will proceed to trial. There will be no second bite at the apple with respect summary judgment hearings.

Continue reading "The Manner in which Foreclosures are Handled in Miami Dade County is About to Change" »

Good news for those who have strategically defaulted on their mortgages and are worried about their credit. A new study is set to be released which reveals that people who default on their mortgages, and not on other debts, are not as risky as once thought. Let's hope lenders will take this into account when looking at someone's credit history.

A strategic default is a decision by a borrower to stop making payments on a debt despite having the financial ability to make the payment. A Wall Street Journal report recently estimated that 1 in 5 mortgage defaults are "strategic". Indeed, many are anticipating that the next wave of foreclosures will consist of more and more individuals seeking to walk away from homes that are currently underwater.

Transunion, one of the largest credit reporting agencies, conducted research which shows that those who only default on mortgages are less likely to default later on new car loans or credit cards than are people who have defaulted on their mortgage and some other loan at the same time.

The study also revealed that mortgage-only defaulters saw their credit scores rebound faster than people who have defaulted on multiple loans. This includes people who have filed for bankruptcy.

This research is valuable to lenders because mortgage-only defaulters are certainly going to be a major part of the market in the future. This is a result of many homeowners who have elected to make "strategic defaults", which is when a homeowner who could afford to pay their mortgage defaults because their home's value tanked. Another study shows that strategic defaulters have better credit histories than other mortgage defaulters. It also showed that strategic defaulters are savvy about credit.

Today's current real estate market, and ongoing foreclosure crises, presents all sorts of issues that must be properly navigated. There are many factors contributing to Florida's nation leading delinquency rates. They include a weak job market, weak economic recovery, and a major drop in home prices. Consequently, Florida's housing market remains unsettled in large part due to the continued foreclosure crises.

Our Miami foreclosure defense lawyers have assisted many homeowners in buying enough time to reach the solution that is right for them. There are many alternatives to foreclosure, and often times it just takes proper planning to properly navigate against the potential pitfalls. Help is often available to those who seek it.

With more homes falling to foreclosures, many formerly-owned homes are now finding themselves occupied by renters.

The shift from owner-occupied homes to renter-occupied homes has no end in sight due to the ever lasting housing-market collapse and recession that is currently plaguing the United States. Nationwide, 34.9% of occupied homes - including houses, condos, and apartments - were rented in 2010, up from 33.8% in 200.

Florida, a state that has been hit relatively hard by foreclosures, has seen a 5% growth in renter-occupied housing. Prior to 2006, the renter-household market was "fairly stable," but since 2006, the U.S. has seen an increase of about 692,000 house rentals a year. This figure is astronomical when comparing it to the number of owner households, which is falling at an average of 210,000 a year.

Several factors will boost rental growth for years to come, including continued forecloses, continued drops in home prices that frighten buyers and potential cuts to government subsidies supporting home ownership. Despite a large percentage of renters favoring home ownership over renting, renters will have to contend with the current status quo until the housing market recovers.

A main culprit behind the housing market's continued struggles, aside from the real estate market's collapse, involves all of the recent scandals that have plagued our real estate market.

For instance, allegations of robo signing, fraud, documentation errors, issues with process servers, problems servicing loan modifications, and other similar issues, have prompted many lenders to slow down the foreclosure process which in turn has slowed down the housing recovery.

Consider Your Options. Contact Us Today.

We have been successful in defending many foreclosure cases when given an opportunity to develop a plan to properly defend the foreclosure.

Our Miami foreclosure defense lawyers have assisted many homeowners in buying enough time to reach the solution that is right for them. There are many alternatives to foreclosure, and often times it just takes proper planning to properly navigate against the potential pitfalls. Help is often available to those who seek it.

If you are on the brink of foreclosure, need a real estate attorney, or just need to assess your legal rights, please contact our office today.

Call us today toll free at 1-866-518-2913 or at 305-263-7700.

Home prices in South Florida have reached their lowest level since the housing bubble burst in 2006. The cause for the continued price decline can be attributed to the continuing high number of foreclosures, the glut of unsold homes and the reluctance or inability of many to buy.

Real estate prices in Miami dropped by 6.1 percent year over year in the first quarter. This decline has continued over the past few months. The Miami housing market has virtually mirrored the national price index. Nationally, pricing has dropped by 5.1 percent, year over year in the first quarter, and has dropped for the 8th straight month. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that Miami is one of 12 cities nationally that recorded a new low in single-family home prices in the first quarter of 2011.

Unfortunately, these figures confirm a double dip in home prices across much of the country. This is certainly true because from the fourth quarter to the first quarter we saw a 3 percent increase in prices. But from the third to the fourth quarter we saw a 1.5 percent drop. As such, we are seeing home prices continuing on their downward spiral with no relief in sight.

Today's current real estate market, and ongoing foreclosure crises, presents all sorts of issues that must be properly navigated. There are many factors contributing to Florida's nation leading delinquency rates. They include a weak job market, weak economic recovery, and a major drop in home prices. Consequently, Florida's housing market remains unsettled in large part due to the continued foreclosure crises.

Our Miami foreclosure defense lawyers have assisted many homeowners in buying enough time to reach the solution that is right for them. There are many alternatives to foreclosure, and often times it just takes proper planning to properly navigate against the potential pitfalls. Help is often available to those who seek it.

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Florida had the nation's highest inventory of homes currently in foreclosure. As a result, sale prices are lower than normal. Given that sales prices are lower than normal, South Florida single-family homes and condos continued to move at an increasing rate compared to last year.

According to housing data released by Florida Realtors, home sales in South Florida increased 2 percent state wide in the month of April. Condos sales have been even stronger. In South Florida alone, condo sales rose 17 percent compared to April of last year.

Specifically, single-family homes in Miami, West Palm Beach, and Ft. Lauderdale increased by 40 percent, 21 percent, and 2 percent respectively from April 2010. Surprisingly, condo sales boomed in Miami, going up a "whopping" 94 percent from a year ago. In West Palm Beach, condo sales increased 30 percent from last year, while Ft. Lauderdale saw a minimal increase, but an increase nonetheless, at 8 percent.

On the other hand, about 14.4 percent of Florida homes with a mortgage were in some stage of foreclosure in the first quarter, compared with the national rate of 4.5 percent. Additionally, at least 4.6 percent of Florida mortgages were at least 90 days past due. The percentage of Florida loans that entered the foreclosure process in the first quarter was 1.8 percent, second only to Nevada's 2.3 percent.

If you're in the market to buy a new home or condo, now is a great time to do so. With sale prices continuing to drop, potential buyers need to take advantage of the current market conditions.

Today's current real estate market, and ongoing foreclosure crises, presents all sorts of issues that must be properly navigated. There are many factors contributing to Florida's nation leading delinquency rates. They include a weak job market, weak economic recovery, and a major drop in home prices. Consequently, Florida's housing market remains unsettled in large part due to the continued foreclosure crises.

Our Miami foreclosure defense lawyers have assisted many homeowners in buying enough time to reach the solution that is right for them. There are many alternatives to foreclosure, and often times it just takes proper planning to properly navigate against the potential pitfalls. Help is often available to those who seek it.

Yet another sign that the economy is recovering at a moderate pace, late payments on mortgages have fallen again for the fifth straight quarter. But the number of homeowners making late payments - or no payments - continues to remain extremely high when compared with the pre-real estate crisis norm.

According to news reports, the percentage of borrowers who were on average 60 days or more past due on their mortgage payments, fell to 6.19% for the three months ending on March 31. This is down from last year's figure of 6.77%. And despite having the highest delinquency rates out of any state, Florida also saw a fall from a year ago going from 14.65% to 14.37 %. Some states, however, weren't so lucky. Maine, for instance, saw its delinquency rate climb from 4.64% to 5.04 %.

Optimism remains low for any significant decrease in delinquency rates due to the lengthy foreclosure process, here in Florida. Foreclosing on a home is taking on average more than two years from the initial stage.

Another big reason why we wont see a decrease is because property owners will continue to be discouraged from making payments on properties that continue to decline in value. Therefore, unless we see an increase in housing prices for properties mortgaged in pre-housing bust, then we likely won't see delinquency rates getting back to normal for possibly as long as another 4 to 8 years.

Indeed, about 9% of all borrowers are behind on their mortgages, and 4.6% of homes are in foreclosure.

Today's current real estate market, and ongoing foreclosure crises, presents all sorts of issues that must be properly navigated. There are many factors contributing to Florida's nation leading delinquency rates. They include a weak job market, weak economic recovery, and a major drop in home prices. Consequently, Florida's housing market remains unsettled in large part due to the continued foreclosure crises.

Our Miami foreclosure defense lawyers have assisted many homeowners in buying enough time to reach the solution that is right for them. There are many alternatives to foreclosure, and often times it just takes proper planning to properly navigate against the potential pitfalls. Help is often available to those who seek it.