Fort Lauderdale Real Estate Attorney – Florida Fair Foreclosure Act: Devil in the Details As part of the 10 year retrospective, Roy Oppenheim will be republishing blogs from South Florida Law Blog. (Originally posted THU AUG 25, 2011 on South Florida Law Blog)
Trust the banksters . . .
we think not!
Florida Foreclosure Defense Attorney Roy Oppenheim says:
Florida Homeowners Beware!
The proposed Florida Fair Foreclosure Act, at first glance, appears to be fair for homeowners.
But watch out; it is actually only meant to be fair to the banks. The Act allows banks to rapidly and without supervision steal homes right from under the homeowners feet.
No more surprises!
The Act’s promising start begins with provisions requiring notification in BIG and bold letters informing borrowers and tenants that they are in danger of losing their home.
Show me the note! The Act also requires the bank to actually be the owner and holder of the mortgage and note at the of filing the lawsuit and to attach such note to the complaint. Seems like common sense, but given the vast amount of improper foreclosures I guess it was about time to spell out the requirements of existing law that has not changed in 100 years.
Injustice, give me due process!
After a seemingly homeowner named Act, false alarm, the banks win yet again. Hidden within the Act is a provision permitting banks foreclosure on homes without using the judicial process. As if banks did not have it easy enough before, the Act effectively speeds up the bank’s ability to throw people out of their home without due process of law.
Homeowners, stand your ground!
There is no justice for homeowners with non-judicial foreclosure. Of course a homeowner could consent to use of this procedure, but regardless, the Act makes foreclosing on homes as easy as 1, 2, 3 by allowing judicial bypass if:
The property is non-homestead and without equity,
The homeowner abandoned the property, left to determination by the so trustworthy banks; or
The homeowner signs a deed in lieu of foreclosure.
The only requirements for the banks are to verify the homeowner is not on active duty with the U.S. military, but when has that ever stopped the banks before? Banks must also provide 30 days written notice, by merely U.S. mail rather than service of process, to the homeowner and all other interested parties.
Stay alert!
If the average, busy homeowner does not refuse within the 30 days of the notice they are stuck using the non-judicial procedure. The only fair part of the alternative foreclosure process is that the lender is prevented from collecting any deficiency judgment from the homeowner. But hey, that is the least they can do after practically ripping your home away.
Do not trust!
After all the misconduct of banks, their attorneys, and the courthouse in handling foreclosure proceedings, and the vast amount of fraudulent foreclosures, the Act in effect asks homeowners to trust these same banksters to conduct their own unsupervised foreclosure proceedings.
Trust the banksters . . . we think not!
From the trenches,
Roy Oppenheim
Should you have any questions or would like to schedule an appointment,
contact us.
Oppenheim Law
2500 Weston Rd #404,
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33331
954-384-6114
Email: contactus@oplaw.net
Website: Fort Lauderdale Real Estate Attorney
Original Source: https://southfloridalawblog.com/florida-fair-foreclosure-act-devil-in-the-details/
About Roy:
He founded Oppenheim Law in 1989 with his wife Ellen Pilelsky and uniquely positioned the Firm as one of Florida’s leading boutique law firms in Weston, Florida. In addition, in 1994, he co-founded Weston Title & Escrow, the oldest title company in Weston, Florida, and he currently serves as its Vice President.
Weston Title: https://westontitle.com/
