Miami Real Estate Attorney Blog

Miami Dade County Property Tax Alert – Despite the Decline in Housing Prices, and Ongoing Foreclosure Crises, Are Your Property Taxes Still Too High? Will You File a Property Tax Appeal? Know Your Rights!

Your property tax notice has been mailed to you. Will you be shocked by how much you have to pay in property taxes this year? Despite the recent downturn in our real estate market, your property taxes may actually go up this year. If so, you should know your rights and learn how to fight back. Please call our office today to discuss your property taxes in greater detail.

It is imperative to know and understand the process in an effort to effectively fight back to keep your property taxes in check and reasonable.

In August of each year, Miami-Dade County property owners receive a “Notice of Proposed Property Taxes” (the “Trim Notice”) showing, as to each property, the prior year’s taxes, the current year’s taxes, with and without budget changes, and the “market” and “assessed” values for the prior and current year. Based on the current year’s information, property owners may file petitions with the Value Adjustment Board (VAB) within 25 days following the mailing of the Trim Notice, if they feel that the Property Appraiser’s proposed “assessed” value is incorrect (i.e. does not properly reflect the property’s actual fair market value as of Jan. 1 of the current tax year). With certain exceptions, a $15 filing fee is required to be paid at the time a petition is filed.

Prior to filing a VAB petition, a taxpayer may review the proposed assessment with the Property Appraiser’s Office at an informal conference. However, this informal conference is not a necessary prerequisite to the filing of a VAB petition. If the property owner meets with the Property Appraiser and is dissatisfied with the results, the taxpayer or his agent, may file a value petition with the VAB after the meeting. Approximately 145,000 petitions are filed each year with the VAB.

After the petitions are filed, hearings before the VAB’s Special Magistrates are scheduled and the petitioners are notified of the date, time and place of their respective hearings via first class mail. The hearing notices are generally mailed no later than 30 days prior to the date of the scheduled hearing. Petitioners (i.e. taxpayers) contesting the value of their property present their cases to Appraiser Special Magistrates. At the hearing, since the Property Appraiser’s assessment is supported by a “presumption of correctness” under Florida law, the burden of proving that the assessment is excessive or otherwise illegal falls on the petitioner.

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

Florida Real Estate Sales Plummet to Record Lows in July Sparking Concern of a “Double Dip”

Fewer single-family homes were sold in July as compared with July of last year, as reported by the South Florida Business Journal. Specifically, statewide sales of single family homes fell by 14% in July, to 13,589 from 15,762 just a year ago.

According to the USA Today, home sales plunged to record lows as buyer demand eroded after the expiration of a federal homebuyer tax credit. Sales on existing homes tumbled nationally 27.2% in July.

Existing home sales also fell in South Florida, with Fort Lauderdale taking the biggest hit. Fort Lauderdale saw a 21% downturn, with just 720 homes sold in July, compared with 907 sales in July of 2009.

Real estate sales are at the lowest level since the total existing home sales series launched in 1999, and single-family home sales are at the lowest level since May 1995. These numbers are particularly troublesome given that mortgage rates have been at historical lows for some time now.

As we have previously posted, there are many factors that are driving today’s unstable real estate market. But one of the most crucial factors is the continued instability in the job market. Until the economy as a whole improves, our real estate market will remain volatile.

Part of the volatility that is currently being experienced in the real estate market can also be attributed to the expiration of the federal home buyer tax credit. However, the drop in real estate sales – for whatever reason – is still a troublesome sign to our housing recovery.

Another possible explanation for the current volatility in the housing market is that we are beginning to experience a standoff between both buyers and sellers. Many sellers are reluctant to lower their prices. And buyers are hesitating because they think home prices have not bottomed out. This standoff will no doubt fuel further instability in our housing market.
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We have been successful in defending many foreclosure cases when given an opportunity to develop a plan to properly defend the foreclosure.

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.

Our Miami Foreclosure Defense Lawyers Are Fighting to Save Your Home – Know Your Rights

It’s every homeowner’s nightmare — losing your home to foreclosure. But it does not have to happen. With a strong advocate on your side, it may be possible to keep your home and even get a lower mortgage payment.

Alvarez & Barbara, LLP, is a team of experienced and aggressive foreclosure defense attorneys. We use the legal system to help people save their homes — and we can stand up for you.

Many people wait too long before getting legal help. They delay in the hope that they can turn their financial situation around. If you are behind on your mortgage payments or are having trouble making your monthly payments, you need to take action now. The sooner you call us, the quicker we can start working to save your home. Get help today to assert your rights in these difficult times.

Asserting your rights will not only give you the chance to save your home; it may also increase the amount of time that you have in your home.

Consider these rights that homeowners have during foreclosure:

•You have the right to be notified of the foreclosure. Lenders must give you written notice that they plan to foreclose on your home.

•You have the right to stop foreclosure by paying off all of the past due amounts you owe on your home mortgage.

• You have the right to discuss the foreclosure with your mortgage company. If you are unable to pay what you owe on the house, you may be able to negotiate alternative payment options (a loan workout/loan modification).

• You may be able to privately sell your home to pay back mortgage debt. However, selling your home may not discharge the remaining debt you owe on the home (if it sells for less than you need to pay back the loans).

• You have a right to contest the foreclosure process. Did the mortgage company properly notify you? Is there evidence of predatory lending?

• If your home is sold, you have a right to any money that comes of the sale that is not necessary to pay back your mortgages and late fees.

• You have a right to hire an attorney. Sometimes, the best defense against foreclosure is a Miami foreclosure attorney.
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We have been successful in defending many foreclosure cases when given an opportunity to develop a plan to properly defend the foreclosure.

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.

July Foreclosure Rates Rise and the Housing Supply Increases Too in Miami and Across the State of Florida

According to the South Florida Business Journal, foreclosure filings were up across South Florida in July. Additionally, more homes have flooded the market in the past 10 weeks sparking many questions about the effect of foreclosures on the marketplace.

Florida had the third-highest foreclosure rate in the country with one in every 171 housing units receiving a foreclosure filing in July. Moreover, there has been a 4.6% increase of homes for sale in South Florida since May 31st, and that represents the first two month rise since the housing bubble burst.

It is therefore important to consult, and hire, an experienced foreclosure defense attorney to defend your rights. An experienced foreclosure defense attorney will be able to assess and evaluate what defenses you may have during the foreclosure process, and aggressively advocate your positions in the foreclosure. And when given an opportunity to defend these cases properly, we have actually not only won those cases, but we have secured attorney fees in our favor.

In Miami-Dade County, 1 in every 138 homes fell into foreclosure in July. Foreclosures in Palm Beach County shot up 77% in July, to 3,759 from 2,121 the month before, and were up 41.7% from a year earlier. In Broward County, 1 in every 125 homes was in foreclosure in July. In Broward, there were 6,471 foreclosure filings in July, and that represented a 4.76% increase from June.

These numbers are particularly troubling to the real estate recovery. For the past two years, the housing supply had been plummeting. Indeed, there was a string of 24 straight months where the housing supply declined. However, and in addition to the increase in foreclosure filings in July, the past 10 weeks have also seen an increase in the amount of supply in the market, i.e. an increase in the number of homes for sale. This is a troubling sign as it illustrates that there is still considerable uncertainty in the real estate market.

This new trend could mean further declines in home values and asking prices. For buyers, more inventory means more homes to choose from, and more leverage when negotiating prices. For sellers, this means more price reductions and likely more time for the property to stay on the market before it is sold.

One possible explanation for the increased inventory is that banks are slowly starting to dump more distressed properties back on the market. These distressed properties will no doubt likely drive prices down, and also increase inventory. The result could be further price reductions in a market still searching for a bottom.
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We have been successful in defending many foreclosure cases when given an opportunity to develop a plan to properly defend the foreclosure.

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.

New Federal Program – HAFA – May Bolster Short Sales in Miami

Short sales once were extremely rare. But now, with unemployment still high, and home values down, more homeowners are pursuing short sales when they can’t afford their mortgage. Indeed, we recently wrote about the rise in short sales in Miami.

The sales of homes for less than the amount owed the bank, known as “short sales,” have been widely viewed as an alternative that could help slow the foreclosure epidemic. In theory, delinquent homeowners escape a mortgage they cannot afford, and lenders, although taking a loss, avoid the even costlier process of completing a foreclosure.

However, many homeowners have struggled to sell their home in short sales. A USA Today report revealed that only about 1 in 5 short sales transactions actually close.

Help could be on the way. Thanks to the federal government’s Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives, or HAFA program, many struggling homeowners may get some much needed relief.

HAFA establishes streamlined short sale rules and incentivizes borrowers and lenders to work together to avoid foreclosure. The rules — in effect between April 5, 2010, and Dec. 31, 2012 — also are intended to speed up the short sale process.

Under HAFA, borrowers receive preapproved short sale terms from the lender prior to putting the home on the market.

The HAFA guidelines apply to lenders who voluntarily participate in the HAMP program. The Department of Housing and Urban Development says more than 100 servicers have signed up to participate in HAMP, covering more than 89 percent of mortgage debt outstanding in the country.
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If you think you qualify for HAFA, or wish to learn more about your alternatives to foreclosure, please contact our office today.

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

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.

Fla.’s Attorney General Investigates Whether 3 Prominent Foreclosure Law Firms Secured 1,000’s of Foreclosure Judgments by Fraud in Miami and Around the State

The economic crimes division of the Florida attorney general’s office is investigating whether possible wrongdoing by three law firms may have played a role in obtaining thousands of mortgage foreclosure judgments.

Banks and law firm firms are coming under greater scrutiny each and every day. It is therefore important to consult, and hire, an experienced foreclosure defense attorney to defend your rights. An experienced foreclosure defense attorney will be able to assess and evaluate what defenses you may have during the foreclosure process, and aggressively advocate your positions in the foreclosure. And when given an opportunity to defend these cases properly, we have actually not only won those cases, but we have secured attorney fees in our favor.

Thousands of final judgments of foreclosure against Florida homeowners may have been the result of the allegedly improper action of the bank’s law firms. Whether the law firms may have created affiliated companies outside the United States where the allegedly false documents are being prepared and then submitted to the law firms for use is also being investigated.

Law firms are certainly not immune to Florida’s a deceptive and unfair trade practice laws. This investigation appears to be aimed at curbing many of the practices that many foreclosure mills engage in on an almost daily basis. Indeed, many judges have become very frustrated with these law firms, and their practices. As a result, they have started to bash many law firms.

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

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.

Alleged Foreclosure Fraud Leads to Lawsuit Against Prominent South Florida Foreclosure Mill Seeking Billions of Dollars

According to a recent report by the American Bar Association, David Stern, and his law firm, have been sued for fraud and violating racketeering laws. The Plaintiff is seeking billions of dollars in the class action lawsuit.

Mr. Stern’s law firm is one of the leading foreclosure mill law firms in the State of Florida. Also named in the lawsuit is a bank created company that purportedly owned a criminal enterprise which was established to do nothing more but violate homeowner’s legal rights by intentionally failing to reveal the true holders of mortgages under the guise of running a “registration” company that purportedly kept track of mortgage ownership.

The lawsuit was filed in the United States District for the Southern District of Florida. The lawsuit alleges that Mr. Stern, and his law firm, violated federal RICO statutes by fraudulently pursuing tens of thousands of foreclosure actions on behalf of lenders who did not hold the original notes and mortgages on the properties at issue as required by law.

Prior to this recent filing, several Florida Judges have bashed foreclosure mills for their unethical practices, and sloppy legal work. As a result, it seems that banks, and their law firms, are coming under greater judicial scrutiny with each passing day. Especially in light of the growing concerns for so many Americans that they may lose their home. It is therefore important to consult, and hire, an experienced foreclosure defense attorney to defend your rights. An experienced foreclosure defense attorney will be able to assess and evaluate what defenses you may have during the foreclosure process, and aggressively advocate your positions in the foreclosure. And when given an opportunity to defend these cases properly, we have actually not only won those cases, but we have secured attorney fees in our favor.

As for the lawsuit filed against David Stern, and his law firm, central to the purported fraud is an innovative company called Mortgage Electronic Registration Corp. (MERS). That company purported to be both the mortgagee and to be acting solely as a nominee for Lender and Lender’s successors and assigns in numerous form documents. Such “intentionally ambiguous verbiage,” as alleged in the complaint, was part of a conspiracy involving Stern, his law firm and defendant Merscorp Inc. that used MERS “so that to the average consumer, or even legal professional … who or what was or is ultimately receiving the benefits of any mortgage payments” cannot be determined.
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We have been successful in defending many foreclosure cases when given an opportunity to develop a plan to properly defend the foreclosure.

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.
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Short Sales on the Rise in Miami

We recently wrote about the rise in real estate sales in Miami. Part of the reason for the rise in real estate sales locally is that many banks have become more willing to allow sellers to sell their homes via short sales. Consequently, short sales now account for one in every four homes sold in South Florida. For instance, in June, there were 944 short sales in Miami-Dade County, and that is up from 379 short sales a year earlier.

It seems that banks have become more willing to negotiate with buyers willing to sell their homes in these tough economic times. Therefore, those seeking to get out of foreclosure or stop foreclosure sales in South Florida need to consult with an experienced attorney about their options. Short-sales are an option to potentially avoid a foreclosure sale, but it has its own set of drawbacks and benefits that need to be carefully analyzed.

In Miami-Dade County today, half of the pending single-family homes for sale on the Multiple Listing Service are short sales. The increasing number of short sales and bank owned properties coming to the market has put a downward pressure on real estate prices in Miami, and South Florida in general.

In June, median prices of existing homes stood at $203,300 in Miami-Dade County, and that is down about 4% from the same month a year ago. Median existing condo prices at $128,000, were down about 9% in Miami-Dade County.

Increasing short sale approvals is one reason why South Florida has seen a recent resurgence in real estate sales. In July, pending home sales in Miami Dade County stood at 10,113, and that is an increase of 40.5% from July 2009. In Broward County, pending sales stood at 7,830 in July, and that is up 25.4% from a year earlier. These favorable numbers can also be attributed to many foreign buyers coming into our market and paying all cash for real estate priced at very attractive prices.
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We have been successful in defending many foreclosure cases when given an opportunity to develop a plan to properly defend the foreclosure.

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.

Miami Foreclosure Defense Lawyers See a Rise in Real Estate Sales

According to the South Florida Business Journal, homes sales were up in June. Sales of single family homes in June rose by 23.6% from May. However, new home sales nationwide were down 16.7% from the same period a year ago.

This may be a good time to consult with an experienced real estate attorney, and foreclosure defense attorney, to determine your best course of action if you are looking to either sell or buy your home at this time. The changing real estate market requires you to consult with a professional that knows this market, and is prepared to guide you through the ups and downs of the ever changing market.

In Miami-Dade County, in June, 33% more condominiums were sold than in June of 2009. As for single family homes, June saw a 1% increase of sales as compared with June of 2009. However, median sale prices for both condos and single family homes were down for the year.

In June of 2010, median sales prices, in Miami-Dade County, was down 9% compared to June of last year, but up 2% from May of this year. For instance, the median prices for a condo was $128,800. For single family homes, the median sales price for a single family home was $203,000, down 4% for the year, but up 3.4% for the month.

Statewide, sales prices were also down. For instance, median prices were down 5% for single family homes, and 16% for condos. Nationally, June sales of existing homes were down 5.1% from May, but up 9.8% from June of 2009.

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

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.

Loan Modifications: Reports are Mixed on Whether They are Working to Help Families Save Their Home

Shortly after taking office, President Barack Obama announced an ambitious plan to help rescue the housing market from total collapse. The plan centered on the restructuring of distressed mortgages to help keep struggling borrowers in their homes while also inserting a floor beneath the plummeting property values. Put differently, the plan was intended to keep many borrowers in their homes, even if the property value for that home was “upside down”, and this in turn would slow the flow of foreclosures entering the marketplace thereby stabilizing the “freefall” of housing prices.

Unfortunately, the plan has not helped as many people as the administration would have hoped or originally projected it would help. On the other hand, it is important to note that the plan was never intended to be a cure for the pains felt by every single distressed homeowner, so it was never intended to “end” foreclosures and “stop” real estate values from plummeting further. But it was intended to reach more people than it has currently. Indeed, the administration’s plan even provided financial incentives for many financial institutions to help modify mortgages, and the more mortgages that are modified, in theory anyway, should help slow the decline in real estate values.

The Wall Street Journal was recently critical of the administration’s loan modification program. But while it was it critical of the program as a whole, it did conclude that the plan is nonetheless still useful and should continue to be pursued.

But the USA Today also recently reported that many financial institutions have taken it upon themselves to modify, and restructure, many mortgages while not participating in the administration’s plan.

Those internal, or private, modifications are not reported, and are therefore not counted towards the figures used, by the government, when determining whether or not the government’s modification program has been a success, or at least reaching more people each passing day. Far less is known about these private alternatives because they are often times done privately by lenders using different criteria and methods than those laid out by the administration in their plan to rescue the real estate market.

Hiring a Miami foreclosure defense attorney is the best course of action for homeowners seeking to save your home or for those seeking to avoid or prevent a foreclosure sale, as well as to assess your viability in the loan modification process. As reported in our Miami Real Estate Attorney Blog, there are many options for homeowners to potentially save your home.

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

If you are on the brink of foreclosure, and need to assess your legal rights, please contact our office today.