Miami Lawyer Blog

The Friends of the New World Symphony named Aaron Resnick, Esq. to its National Council for 2013-2014. Mr. Resnick was the founding Chairperson for the Friends of the New World Symphony.

The New World Symphony, America's Orchestral Academy, is dedicated to the artistic, professional and personal development of outstanding young musicians. As a result of its unique educational environment, the New World Symphony has achieved an international reputation for creating new models of orchestral training and performance. New World Symphony has built a global community of the world's finest performers, educators and composers who impart their knowledge and insight to the Fellows both in Miami Beach and via Internet2. In addition to its regular performances in Miami Beach and Miami, the New World Symphony has performed in prestigious venues throughout the world, including New York's Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall, London's The Barbican, Paris' Bastille Opera, Cité de la Musique and Opéra Comique, Amsterdam's Concertgebouw, Vienna's Konzerthaus and Rome's National Academy of Santa Cecilia. In January 2011, NWS opened its new campus, a laboratory for the education, presentation and performance of classical music, designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Frank Gehry.

Resnick is the managing partner of the boutique law firm, the Law Offices of Aaron Resnick, P.A., and founder of Faction Capital. His law practice concentrates on business and commercial matters, and sports and entertainment law. His current practice also includes the personal representation of a number of current and former professional athletes in the National Football League, the National Basketball League and Major League Baseball, as well as members of the arts, fashion and entertainment world.

Resnick, a graduate of Leadership Miami, is a leader in the Miami's legal and cultural arts scene. Resnick was awarded the "Shining Star" Award by the Arts & Business Council of Miami, Inc. This award each year honors the top Miami business professional supporting the arts and cultural community. Resnick was the founding chairperson of the Friends of the New World Symphony, and now serves permanently on its Executive Committee. He served on the executive committee for numerous young patron groups in South Florida including, but not limited to: Best Buddies of South Florida, Big Brothers Big Sister's Impact Circle, Art Crowd of the Bass Museum, the Green Room Society for the Center for Performing Arts, the Tropees of the Historical Museum of Southern Florida, the Jewish Legal Society of Miami, and the MOCA Shakers amongst others. He is a Regional Board Member of the Maccabi World Union and a member of the Ben Gurion Society of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation.

Currently, he is a member of the Silver Director's Circle for the Bass Museum,the President's Circle for the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Maestro's Circle for the Friends of the New World Symphony, and a Supporting Member of the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts (and a member of the Green Room Society). Resnick is a board member of the Little Lighthouse Foundation, www.littlelighthouse.org, which is a Miami based charity that seeks, identifies and provides support to children and their families with health, educational, and financial challenges. Mr. Resnick received his Bachelors of Arts in Political Science with honors from Emory University and a Juris Doctor with honors from the University of Florida.

In addition to being an attorney, Mr. Resnick is one of the owners of Faction Capital, LLC, a distressed asset consulting firm, and AJAX Entertainment, LLC, a marketing company targeting young professionals and patrons of the cultural arts.

Awards & Recognition

Florida Trend's Florida Legal Elite
Super Lawyers Magazine Florida Rising Stars
Film, Recording and Entertainment Council Entertainment Law Award
South Florida Business Journal 40 Under 40
Cystic Fibrosis Foundation 40 Under 40 Attorneys
Cystic Fibrosis Foundation 40 Under 40 Business Professionals
"Shining Star" Award by the Arts & Business Council of Miami, Inc.
American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division "Star of the Quarter"

About the Law Offices of Aaron Resnick, P.A.

The Law Offices of Aaron Resnick, P.A. is a full service boutique law firm with offices in Miami, Boca Raton, Gainesville/Ocala, Jacksonville and New York City. For additional information, please go to www.thefirmmiami.com, or call 305.672.7495.

Aaron Resnick, Esq.'s Lawsuit filed in Palm Beach County, Florida was featured in the Courthouse News Service Entertainment Law Digest in an article titled: "Former Madame to the Stars Sues Her Ex". You can read the entire lawsuit at:

http://www.entlawdigest.com/2013/05/01/2338.htm

The article states in part:

"The former alleged madam to the stars Michelle Braun sued her ex-husband, claiming he defrauded her and their children after she financed his businesses and paid him "an annual nanny salary" of $250,000. Braun sued ex-husband David Fioravanti and his business partner Jing-Rerng Chiang, in Palm Beach County Court, for herself and her two minor daughters.

****

In her complaint, Braun claims that her ex-husband, whom she supported throughout the marriage, squandered assets that belonged to their daughters, and let his business partner take control of companies she and Fioravanti had founded together.

****

Braun claims Fioravanti mismanaged the restaurants, and sold the girls' shares to his bookkeeper-turned-partner Chiang, without her consent or knowledge. She claims that Fioravanti and Chiang diverted money from the companies to other businesses, bankrupted one of them, closed one, and lost the territory exclusivity."

Resnick has handled a number of high profile cases for

About the Law Offices of Aaron Resnick, P.A.

The Law Offices of Aaron Resnick, P.A. is a full service boutique law firm with offices in Miami, Boca Raton, Gainesville/Ocala, Jacksonville and New York City. For additional information, please go to www.thefirmmiami.com, or call 305.672.7495.

The Law Offices of Aaron Resnick, P.A. along with the law firm Erez & Sonn, PA announced that it is filing a FINRA arbitration claim against Success Trade Securities, Inc. ("Success Trade") located in Washington D.C.. The claim involves sales by Success Trade of promissory notes to primarily professional athletes and the misuse of funds. According to Yahoo Sports, this appears to be a Ponzi scheme which has victimized investors, including some of the Firms' clients.

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/not-for-attribution/federal-investigators-looking-alleged-18-million-investment-scam-212514480.html

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/not-for-attribution/feds-nfl-nba-players-ensnared-18-million-investment-181232863.html

According to Rand Getlin's Article multiple NFL and NBA players were ensnared in this $18 million dollar investment scheme.

Here is part of the article:

"Financial regulators overseen by the U.S. government have ordered an investment firm with prominent NFL and NBA clients to halt fundraising after allegedly selling $18 million in fraudulent and unregistered promissory notes.

The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) has accused Success Trade Securities and its owner, Fuad Ahmed, of lying about key facts surrounding investments secured by 58 clients. FINRA did not release the names of the athletes ensnared in the scam, however, an 18-month investigation by Yahoo! Sports determined that a large portion of those involved were players represented by Jade Private Wealth Management.

While Jade's client list has fluctuated, the investment firm boasted more than 70 NFL players at one point, including among others, Cleveland Browns cornerback Joe Haden, New York Giants wideout Victor Cruz, San Francisco 49ers tight end Vernon Davis, as well as former stars such as running back Clinton Portis and defensive end Adewale Ogunleye."

FINRA's Complaint alleges that Ahmed and Success Trade misrepresented that they were raising $5 million through the sale of promissory notes and continued to make this representation, even as the sales exceeded the original offering by more than 300 percent. Most of the notes promised to pay an annual interest rate of 12.5 percent on a monthly basis over three years, with some notes promising to pay interest as high as 26 percent.

About the Law Offices of Aaron Resnick, P.A.

The Law Offices of Aaron Resnick, P.A. is a full service boutique law firm with offices in Miami, Boca Raton, Gainesville/Ocala, Jacksonville and New York City. For additional information, please go to www.thefirmmiami.com, or call 305.672.7495.

Attorney Aaron Resnick is on the Host Committee for Art Stars 2013. Art Stars will feature the works of 10 top-notch artists, along with a special appearance by my Miami Model Citizens. Tickets should be purchased online at www.eventbrite.com because there is no guarantee that tickets will be available at the door. Twenty percent of all net proceeds from Art Stars will be donated to the Humane Society of Greater Miami's Young Professionals group, PetNet.

About the Law Offices of Aaron Resnick, P.A.

The Law Offices of Aaron Resnick, P.A. is a full service boutique law firm with offices in Miami, Boca Raton, Gainesville/Ocala, Jacksonville and New York City. For additional information, please go to www.thefirmmiami.com, or call 305.672.7495.

FINRA Files Temporary Cease-and-Desist Order Against Success Trade Securities and CEO Fuad Ahmed to Halt Fraud

FINRA Also Issues Complaint Charging Success Trade Securities and Ahmed With Fraudulent Sales of Promissory Notes

Many Current & Former NFL & NBA Players Among 58 Investors

WASHINGTON -- The Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) announced today that it has filed a Temporary Cease-and-Desist Order (TCDO) to halt further fraudulent activities by Washington, D.C.-based Success Trade Securities, Inc. and its CEO & President, Fuad Ahmed, as well as the misuse of investors' funds and assets. FINRA also issued a complaint against Success Trade Securities and Ahmed charging fraud in the sales of promissory notes issued by the firm's parent company, Success Trade, Inc., in which Ahmed holds a majority ownership interest. FINRA filed the TCDO, to which Ahmed and the company agreed, thus immediately freezing their activities, based on the belief that ongoing customer harm and depletion of investor assets are likely to continue before a formal disciplinary proceeding against Success Trade Securities and Ahmed will be completed.

Success Trade Securities is an online broker-dealer that operates through Just2Trade and LowTrades. In its complaint, FINRA alleges that Success Trade Securities, Ahmed and other registered representatives at the firm sold more than $18 million in Success Trade promissory notes to 58 investors, many of whom are current or former NFL and NBA players, while misrepresenting or omitting material facts. Specifically, FINRA's complaint alleges that Ahmed and Success Trade Securities misrepresented that they were raising $5 million through the sale of promissory notes and continued to make this representation, even as the sales exceeded the original offering by more than 300 percent. Most of the notes promised to pay an annual interest rate of 12.5 percent on a monthly basis over three years, with some notes promising to pay interest as high as 26 percent.

FINRA also alleges that Ahmed and Success Trade Securities failed to disclose the amount of the company's existing debt to investors and that it was unable to make future interest payments without raising money from new investors. In addition, FINRA charges that Ahmed and Success Trade Securities misrepresented how the proceeds would be used, instead improperly using the funds to make unsecured loans to Ahmed and to make interest payments to existing noteholders. FINRA further alleges that Ahmed and Success Trade Securities misrepresented the rate of return and exempt status of the private placement offering through which the notes were sold.

Under FINRA rules, the individuals and firms named in a complaint can file a response and request a hearing before a FINRA disciplinary panel. Possible sanctions include a fine, an order to pay restitution, censure, suspension or bar from the securities industry. The issuance of a disciplinary complaint represents the initiation of a formal proceeding by FINRA, in which findings as to the allegations in the complaint have not been made, and does not represent a decision as to any of the allegations contained in the complaint.

Investors can obtain more information about, and the disciplinary record of, any FINRA-registered broker or brokerage firm by using FINRA's BrokerCheck. FINRA makes BrokerCheck available at no charge. In 2012, members of the public used this service to conduct 14.6 million reviews of broker or firm records. Investors can access BrokerCheck at www.finra.org/brokercheck or by calling (800) 289-9999. Investors may find copies of this disciplinary action as well as other disciplinary documents in FINRA's Disciplinary Actions Online database.

FINRA, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, is the largest independent regulator for all securities firms doing business in the United States. FINRA is dedicated to investor protection and market integrity through effective and efficient regulation and complementary compliance and technology-based services. FINRA touches virtually every aspect of the securities business - from registering and educating all industry participants to examining securities firms, writing rules, enforcing those rules and the federal securities laws, informing and educating the investing public, providing trade reporting and other industry utilities, and administering the largest dispute resolution forum for investors and firms. For more information, please visit www.finra.org.

Aaron Resnick, Esq. is on the Host Committee for Beats After Sunset @ the Bass.

beats after sunset | february 1 | darwin castillo | hendrick's gin

The Bass Museum of Art is a renown art museum in Miami Beach, Florida featuring a collection of Antiquities, Renaissance, and Baroque art and also provides educational programs and teacher resources that aim to inspire a new generation of creative artists. Aaron Resnick is a member of the Silver Director's Circle and has sat on the executive committee for the Art Crowd. Currently, he also is on the host committee for the monthly Beats After Sunset @ the Bass.

The Law Offices of Aaron Resnick is one of the few South Florida firms with an Art Law division.

Bass Museum of Art 2100 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach Call 305-673-7530 or visit bassmuseum.org. For more information, please contact:

melissa brown
public relations and marketing manager
bass museum of art
2100 collins avenue
miami beach, fl 33139
t 3056737530 x 1010
c 540.588.7238
mbrown@bassmuseum.org
www.bassmuseum.org

Attorney Aaron Resnick is on the host committee for this great event supporting the Friends of New World Symphony on Saturday, February 23rd. Mark your calendars because you will not want to miss the return of Miami's most glamorous and unique black tie gala party, Big Band Swing 2013! It starts at 10 p.m. and ends at 1 a.m. Tickets for Friends are a special rate of $125 each ($75 is tax deductible). There will be a price increase after February 5th. Tickets include cocktails, light bites and dancing to the swinging sounds of Michael Andrew and the Atomic Big Band, an 18-piece orchestra back by popular demand.

There is limited space so please get your tickets now. For reservations and inquiries please contact Nathalie Cadet-James at 305-428-6733 or nathalie.cadet-james@nws.edu

The New York Post has recently reported on a case handled by Attorneys Jonathan Davidoff and Aaron Resnick. To read the article, click here.

Mr. Davidoff is the lead counsel on the case and Mr. Resnick is co-chairing the trial that is set to start in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York on February 11, 2013. According to Mr. Davidoff, Mr. Croland is entitled to millions of dollars from the Estate of Michael Ronis, the former chef at Carmine's Restaurants (in NYC and Atlantic City) and Virgil's Real Barbeque.

Mr. Davidoff and Mr. Resnick are trial attorneys with offices throughout Florida and in New York City.

Attorney Aaron Resnick is on the Host Committee for this great event benefiting the Overtown Music Project. Overtown Music Project's annual fundraiser will be at the Fontainebleau in Miami Beach on Saturday, January 26, 2013, and will showcase a mash up of an 18-piece big band with hip hop, funk and soul. MASEO from De La Soul will be DJ'ing.

The event celebrates the connection between Overtown and the Fontainebleau, a hotel where Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie and Etta James once performed.

The event funds our 6 annual events in Overtown and three programs geared
toward bringing music back to the area permanently.

Tickets can be found here: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/5147700912

VIP TICKETS include a spot in the reserved VIP seating area (upstairs in LIV) with
private bar, expedited check in and an additional complimentary cocktail. $125 in advance; $150 at the door cash or check, only.

$2,500 TABLES include 8 tickets, reserved table, 2 bottles of Grey Goose with mixers, and inclusion on the invitation and in social media.

Reminder - 2013 Florida Annual Report Notice

Who Must File?

Florida Limited Partnerships, Limited Liability Limited Partnerships, Corporations (including not for profit), Limited Liability Companies.

Due Date for Filing

May 1, 2013

Filing Fees
For Profit Corporation
Not for Profit Corporation
Limited Liability Company
Limited Partnership
Limited Liability Limited Partnership

Filing Fees

$150.00
$61.25
$138.75
$500.00
$500.00

Penalty for Late Filing

$400.00 (There is no provision to abate or waive the $400 late fee.)
• The state no longer mails postcard reminders and may have sent an email notification in January.
• This is a reminder this must be renewed by the May 1, 2013 deadline.

Note: The annual report is the easiest and least expensive way to make changes to the public corporate record. If you have a change in corporate officers, managers, address or other corrections to the public record, this is the best time to make those changes.

Please call us if you have any questions.

Aaron Resnick, Esq.
New World Tower
100 North Biscayne Boulevard
Suite 1607
Miami, FL 33132
Telephone: (305) 672-7495
Facsimile: (305) 672-7496
E-Facsimile: (866) 606-6343
E-mail: aresnick@thefirmmiami.com
Website: www.thefirmmiami.com

Live CLE Seminar

Defending a Foreclosure: Help Families Save Their Homes

January 22, 2013 • Miami, FL

LawReviewCle's Foreclosure Defense in America is an in-depth examination of the tools you will need to build a successful foreclosure defense practice, along with a detailed treatment of the emerging pleading, discovery, trial and appellate strategies you need to achieve results for your clients.

This course offers practical, real world advice on how to find clients, how to successfully manage a profitable caseload and how to employ the new PST negotiation and trial strategies that will help you develop a loyal base of satisfied clients. Whether you are currently representing clients in foreclosure and want to know the strategies and tools that are producing real results in this dynamic and ever-changing area of the law or whether you're looking to expand your practice to include this most rewarding practice area, this course will provide invaluable resources for you.

Credits
Total CLE Credit Hours:

4.0 (includes 1 ethics hour)

Time
1:00 PM - 5:15 PM

Location
Hyatt Regency Coral Gables
50 Alhambra Plaza
Coral Gables, FL 33134
Directions

Tuition
First Registrant: $195
Add Associate/Paralegal: $145

Special: Young Lawyers, with under four (4) years acceptance to the Bar, may use coupon code YL25 to receive a $25 discount when checking out.

Speakers

Attorney Aaron R. Resnick

Law Offices of Aaron Resnick, P.A. - Miami, FL

Aaron Resnick, a graduate of Leadership Miami, is a leader in the Miami's legal and cultural arts scene. Mr. Resnick was awarded the "Shining Star" Award by the Arts & Business Council of Miami, Inc. This award each year honors the top Miami business professional supporting the arts and cultural community. Mr. Resnick was the founding chairperson of the Friends of the New World Symphony, and now serves permanently on its Executive Committee. He also sat on the Board of Directors for the Miami Design Preservation League for over 10 years. He has served on the executive committee for numerous young patron groups in South Florida including, but not limited to: Best Buddies of South Florida, Big Brothers Big Sister's Impact Circle, Art Crowd of the Bass Museum, the Green Room Society for the Center for Performing Arts, the Tropees of the Historical Museum of Southern Florida, the Jewish Legal Society of Miami, and the MOCA Shakers amongst others. He is a member of the South Beach Athletic Club and an active in local, state and national politics. He is a Regional Board Member of the Maccabi World Union and a member of the Ben Gurion Society of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation.

Currently, he is a member of the Silver Director's Circle for the Bass Museum, the Leadership's Circle for the Museum of Contemporary Art (Miami), the Maestro's Circle for the Friends of the New World Symphony, and a Supporting Member of the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts (and a member of the Green Room Society). Mr. Resnick recently founded, with several friends, the Little Lighthouse Foundation, www.littlelighthouse.org, which is a Miami based charity that seeks, identifies and provides support to children and their families with health, educational, and financial challenges.

Professionally, Mr. Resnick is an attorney, who honed his craft at one of Florida's oldest and most prestigious firms, Gunster Yoakley, before starting his own boutique law firm in 2005 with offices now in Miami, Boca Raton, Gainesville/Ocala, Jacksonville and New York City. Mr. Resnick is admitted to all of the state and federal courts in Florida and the United States Supreme Court.

Mr. Resnick's law practice concentrates on business and commercial matters, and sports and entertainment law. He has successfully represented a number of clients in commercial foreclosure matters and has a company that specializes in working with lenders on distressed assets.

His current practice also includes the personal representation of a number of current and former professional athletes in the National Football League, the National Basketball League and Major League Baseball, as well as members of the arts, fashion and entertainment world. Mr. Resnick himself is an avid collector of art, and is in a partnership with a famous celebrity photographer promoting and marketing his photographs, www.artofthenight.com. Mr. Resnick has lectured on art fraud and is in the process of writing a book related to some of the major art fraud cases of the 20th century.

It never ceases to amaze me that while the lenders are settling with the government for billions of dollars admitting their fraudulent foreclosure practices, the State of Florida is again trying to gut its citizens and residents by passing bills that undermine homeowner rights including the right to a fair trial and due process. This is bad news for Florida homeowners. It is shocking and deplorable.

Here is the latest article from Kimberly Miller at the Palm Beach Post:
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/business/real-estate/quickie-foreclosure-bill-on-agenda-again/nTq4S/

A fast-track foreclosure bill meant to hasten the legal process and reduce a mammoth court backlog will again be discussed by Florida lawmakers this year -- the fourth consecutive session in which the issue has been up for legislative debate.

Proponents of the bill, filed by Rep. Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, said the years of deliberation and countless exchanges with stakeholders have refined the proposal, which removes some of the language most resisted by homeowners in earlier versions.

Also, the proposal (HB 87) retains the consumer-friendly provision that reduces the time banks have to recoup money owed on unpaid mortgage debt from five years to one.

But consumer advocates said the 19-page plan still leaves too few protections for homeowners who they fear will have little time to muster a defense under a part of the bill that gives a judge discretion in determining whether a fast-track foreclosure can proceed.

The so-called "show cause" order allows a judge to demand the homeowner prove why a foreclosure judgment shouldn't be issued if a bank's documents are considered properly documented. A hearing must then be scheduled no sooner than 20 days from the show cause order, and no later than within 45 days of the complaint filing.

If the judge doesn't believe the homeowner has a legitimate defense, a foreclosure judgment can be issued immediately.

"It completely wipes out the ability to engage in discovery and get information from the other side," said Lynn Drysdale, an attorney with Jacksonville Area Legal Aid. "I laud the representative for trying to address a very difficult problem, but I think that some of the provisions in the bill aren't as protective of the rights of homeowners as they are of banks."

Florida is one of about 20 states that have strict judicial foreclosure proceedings, meaning banks must get a judge's approval before repossessing a home.

The real estate crash and recession have left Florida's 20 circuit courts with 377,272 pending foreclosure cases as of the end of October, and an average foreclosure timeline of 858 days -- more than two years.

While states where judicial foreclosures are less common, such as California, Arizona and Nevada, also suffered from the foreclosure crisis, Florida has the highest percent of home loans still in foreclosure. According to a third quarter report from the Mortgage Bankers Association, 13 percent of Florida mortgages are in foreclosure with another 4 percent 90 days or more late on payments.

"We've got to get through this cycle for the economy to improve," said Pete Dunbar, legislative counsel for the Real Property Probate and Trust Law section of the Florida Bar.

Dunbar worked with Passidomo on her bill. He said it was important for the Bar to ensure homeowners are treated fairly in court and receive due process, but he also believes hastening foreclosures on abandoned properties, those no one is defending or homes where there is no legitimate defense, will boost the economy.

"I would say this bill is improved significantly because ideas that became controversial in last year's bill are not in this one," he said.

One of the issues omitted was language that allowed a bank to declare a home abandoned and then fast-track the foreclosure.

But another concern of foreclosure defense attorneys and homeowners remains in the plan. The proposal would only allow for monetary compensation to homeowners whose property was taken wrongfully if a third-party buyer had already purchased it.

Dunbar said the provision allows for clear title to be issued without the fear that ownership will be challenged. Drysdale said it deprives homeowners of their property rights.

"Even if you show the court that there were mistakes made, you can't get your house back," Drysdale said. "You had to completely uproot your family, you probably lost some of your personal property, and all you get is monetary damages?"

Both sides believe the bill has a better chance of passing this year. During the 2012 legislative session it passed the House in a 94-17 vote. It passed several Senate committees, but stalled before a full vote could occur in that chamber.

"Florida has one of the slowest foreclosure systems in the country," Passidomo said. "We need to protect borrowers' rights, but also efficiently move the process along."

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What the bill would do:

Require banks to have all paperwork before filing a foreclosure.

Allow banks to request a fast-track foreclosure from a judge, who can demand a homeowner show why a judgment shouldn't be entered immediately.

Reduce the amount of time a bank has to seek a deficiency judgment against a homeowner from five years to one.

Allow only for monetary compensation to a homeowner whose house was foreclosed on wrongfully but already sold to a third party.

FROM: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-09/blackstone-steps-up-home-buying-as-prices-jump-mortgages.html

Blackstone Group LP (BX), the largest U.S. private real estate owner, accelerated purchases of single- family homes as prices jumped faster than it expected. ent in the 12 months through October, the biggest 12-month advance since May 2010, the group said last month in New York. Photographer: Laura Segall/Bloomberg

Blackstone has spent more than $2.5 billion on 16,000 homes to manage as rentals, deploying capital from the $13.3 billion fund it raised last year, said Jonathan Gray, global head of real estate for the world's largest private equity firm. That's up from $1 billion of homes owned in October, when Blackstone Chairman Stephen Schwarzman said the company was spending $100 million a week on houses.

"The market is moving much faster than anybody thought possible," Gray said during an interview in Blackstone's New York headquarters. "Housing is much stronger than people anticipated."

Blackstone is the largest investor in single-family homes to manage as rentals, acquiring properties in nine markets, from Miami to Phoenix, where prices surged 22 percent in the 12 months through October. The firm, along with Thomas Barrack's Colony Capital LLC and Two Harbors Investment Corp. (SBY), is seeking to transform a market dominated by small investors into a new institutional asset class that JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) estimates could be worth as much as $1.5 trillion.

The market, which has been "dominated by 'Mom and Pop' owners" could total 12 million homes and be double the size of the institutional multifamily market, JPMorgan analysts led by Anthony Paolone, wrote in a note yesterday. "A corporate structure with institutional capital around the business makes sense."

Racing Recovery

Blackstone, which started buying the properties last year, has been racing against the real-estate recovery as prices across the U.S. rose more than economists forecast, with the areas hardest hit by the crash rebounding the most.

The S&P/Case-Shiller index of property values in 20 cities increased 4.3 percent in the 12 months through October, the biggest 12-month advance since May 2010, the group said last month in New York. Prices will gain 3.3 percent in 2013 after an estimated 4.5 percent jump last year, based on the median estimates of 15 economists and housing analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News.

Blackstone is buying in Atlanta, Chicago, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Northern and Southern California; Miami, Orlando and Tampa, Florida -- where prices fell so far that they "overshot," said David Roth, managing director at Blackstone overseeing single-family home rentals.

'Warehousing' Homes

Blackstone has been purchasing through foreclosure auctions and short sales, in which banks agree to accept less than is owed on the mortgage, after more than 5 million homeowners lost their homes since the market's peak in 2006.

It's bought so quickly it's "warehousing" more than half of the homes it's acquired as it completes the purchase and hires staff and contractors to renovate and rent the properties, Gray said. It takes about 30 days to fix each home and then as much as 30 days to lease the property, he said.

"Renovating the 16,000 homes is an enormous job," Gray said.

By comparison, D.R. Horton Inc. (DHI), the largest U.S. homebuilder by volume, sold 18,890 homes and generated $5.35 billion in revenue in fiscal 2012.

Colony Capital has bought about 5,500 homes since April, spending more than $500 million, and expects to reach $1.5 billion invested by the end of the year. Closely held Waypoint Homes said it has bought about 2,500 homes and expects to have 10,000 homes by the end of 2013.

Silver Bay

Silver Bay Realty Trust Corp., a publicly traded arm of Two Harbors, raised $245 million in an initial public offering last month. It rose 0.8 percent to $21.30 at 9:32 a.m. in New York, extending its 14 percent gain through yesterday since it started trading. The firm, led by Chief Executive Officer David Miller, a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. executive and U.S. Treasury Department official, is the largest public real estate investment trust concentrating on single-family homes.

"We are seeing increased supply of rental homes as some of these big companies have moved into the space, but we're still seeing a strong appetite as well," said Colin Wiel, co-founder and managing director of Waypoint. "We always anticipated that prices were going to rise pretty quickly. They've risen quicker during the last 12 months than we would've guessed."

Blackstone currently buys all of its homes with cash and then finances pools of houses with up to 60 percent debt. Conventional single-family home mortgages are financed with a 20-percent down payment.

Credit Line

The firm got a $600 million line of credit from Deutsche Bank AG (DBK) in October. It's in talks with the Frankfurt-based lender to double the financing, according to two people with knowledge of the negotiations. Deutsche Bank will lead a group of banks that will contribute an additional $600 million, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private.

Financial institutions have been slow to back single-family rental homes, because large investors have little history to demonstrate cash flows and cost of operations.

"While leverage is currently limited, potential financing options include secured credit lines, lending syndicates, high- yield debt, government sponsored enterprise-provided financing, and securitization," Jade Rahmani, an analyst with Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Inc. in New York, wrote in a note yesterday.

Citigroup Extended

Citigroup Inc. (C) extended a $245 million line of credit to Waypoint in October, enabling the investment firm to multiply its initial $150 million in capital from GI Partners, a Menlo Park, California-based private equity fund. American Residential Properties, which has 1,500 homes in five states, received a line of credit from Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) in June 2010. The company announced plans for an initial public offering of shares as early as the first quarter of this year, depending on market conditions.

Blackstone's strategy in real estate generally has been to "buy, fix and sell," said Gray, who in 2007 engineered the largest real estate buyout ever when Blackstone acquired Sam Zell's Equity Office Properties Trust for $39 billion including assumed debt. Gray's real estate business brought in $1 billion in profit for the firm in 2011.

In the case of the single-family business, Blackstone will rent and manage the homes through Invitation Homes, which it founded last year with Riverstone Residential Group, an apartment management company based in Dallas.

While Blackstone ultimately will benefit from the properties' price appreciation, in the meantime, the homes will generate revenue and cash flow, Gray said.

"We're building a real company," he said.

To contact the reporter on this story: John Gittelsohn in Los Angeles at johngitt@bloomberg.net; Heather Perlberg in New York at hperlberg@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Kara Wetzel at kwetzel@bloomberg.net; Rob Urban at robprag@bloomberg.net

FROM http://www.dsnews.com/articles/ten-banks-reach-85m-deal-with-regulators-in-foreclosure-settlement-2013-01-07

Ten major mortgage servicers reached an agreement with federal regulators to pay more than $8.5 billion over alleged foreclosure abuses, the Federal Reserve announced in a release Monday.

Of the $8.5 billion, $3.3 billion will go toward direct payments to eligible borrowers, and $5.2 billion will be used to assist borrowers in other ways, such as through loan modifications.

The servicers involved in the agreement include Aurora, Bank of America, Citibank, JPMorgan Chase, MetLife Bank, PNC, Sovereign, SunTrust, U.S. Bank, and Wells Fargo.
In April 2011, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Fed, and the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) first announced enforcement actions after investigations led to allegations of abusive foreclosure practices.

As part of the consent orders, the servicers were required to hire third-party consultants to conduct a free Independent Foreclosure Review for borrowers who believed they incurred financial harm due to faulty foreclosure practices. The reviews were for foreclosure actions that occurred in 2009 and 2010.

The agreement with the 10 servicers replaces the Independent Foreclosure Review process with a new framework allowing eligible borrowers to receive compensation more quickly.

Under the settlement, eligible borrowers will receive compensation even if they did not request a foreclosure review. Eligible borrowers should receive anywhere from hundreds of dollars to $125,000, depending on the individual's situation.

According to the release, the OCC and the Fed "accepted this agreement because it provides the greatest benefit to consumers subject to unsafe and unsound mortgage servicing and foreclosure practices during the relevant period in a more timely manner than would have occurred under the review process."

"We have learned a great deal from the reviews that have been conducted to date. However, it has become clear that carrying the process through to its conclusion would divert money away from the impacted homeowners and also needlessly delay the dispensation of compensation to affected borrowers. Our new course of action will get more money to more people more quickly, and it will speed recovery in the nation's housing markets," said Comptroller of the Currency Thomas J. Curry in a statement.
The enforcement actions in 2011 included 14 servicers. Since all 14 servicers were not part of this agreement, the Fed announced it is working toward a similar agreement with the other servicers who were subject to the enforcement actions.

In response to the settlement, several banks issued statements, including Citi, which said, "We are pleased to have the matter resolved and believe this agreement is a positive development that will provide benefits for homeowners."

In U.S. Bancorp's response, the bank said it "has long been committed to sound modification and foreclosure practices. We have always regarded foreclosure as a last resort, and have helped thousands of borrowers over the past several years to stay in their homes through a variety of modification programs."

Mike Heid, president of Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, stated, "This agreement allows us to move forward and continue our focus on doing all we can do to provide relief to our customers and restore stability to housing markets across the country."

Miami Attorney Aaron Resnick was quoted in the 20th Anniversary Issue on Ocean Drive Magazine. Ocean Drive magazine is the quintessential fashion and lifestyle magazine for South Florida, delivering the latest trends in fashion, beauty, art, travel, real estate, and entertainment. With its infectious glimpse into high and hip society, this glossy, oversized coffee-table book has become a staple in the homes of discerning, high-end audiences and has been referred to as "the Bible of South Beach." Featuring sizzling content that is always ahead of the curve, Ocean Drive magazine delivers firsthand knowledge of new trends and captures the essence of the American Riviera. Ocean Drive magazine is published by Niche Media.

Aaron Resnick, a graduate of Leadership Miami, is a leader in the Miami's legal and cultural arts scene. Mr. Resnick was awarded the "Shining Star" Award by the Arts & Business Council of Miami, Inc. This award each year honors the top Miami business professional supporting the arts and cultural community. Mr. Resnick was the founding chairperson of the Friends of the New World Symphony, and now serves permanently on its Executive Committee. He also sat on the Board of Directors for the Miami Design Preservation League for over 10 years. He has served on the executive committee for numerous young patron groups in South Florida including, but not limited to: Best Buddies of South Florida, Big Brothers Big Sister's Impact Circle, Art Crowd of the Bass Museum, the Green Room Society for the Center for Performing Arts, the Tropees of the Historical Museum of Southern Florida, the Jewish Legal Society of Miami, and the MOCA Shakers amongst others. He is a member of the South Beach Athletic Club and an active in local, state and national politics. He is a Regional Board Member of the Maccabi World Union and a member of the Ben Gurion Society of the Greater Miami Jewish Federation.

Currently, he is a member of the Silver Director's Circle for the Bass Museum, the Leadership's Circle for the Museum of Contemporary Art (Miami), the Maestro's Circle for the Friends of the New World Symphony, and a Supporting Member of the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts (and a member of the Green Room Society). Mr. Resnick recently founded, with several friends, the Little Lighthouse Foundation, www.littlelighthouse.org, which is a Miami based charity that seeks, identifies and provides support to children and their families with health, educational, and financial challenges.

Professionally, Mr. Resnick is an attorney, who honed his craft at one of Florida's oldest and most prestigious firms, Gunster Yoakley, before starting his own boutique law firm in 2005 with offices now in Miami, Boca Raton, Gainesville/Ocala, Jacksonville and New York City. Mr. Resnick is admitted to all of the state and federal courts in Florida and the United States Supreme Court.

Mr. Resnick's law practice concentrates on business and commercial matters, and sports and entertainment law. He has successfully represented a number of clients in commercial foreclosure matters and has a company that specializes in working with lenders on distressed assets.

His current practice also includes the personal representation of a number of current and former professional athletes in the National Football League, the National Basketball League and Major League Baseball, as well as members of the arts, fashion and entertainment world. Mr. Resnick himself is an avid collector of art, and is in a partership with a famous celebrity photographer promoting and marketing his photographs, www.artofthenight.com. Mr. Resnick has lectured on art fraud and is in the process of writing a book related to some of the major art fraud cases of the 20th century.

In addition to being an attorney, Mr. Resnick is one of the owners of Faction Capital, LLC, a distressed asset consulting firm, and AJAX Entertainment, LLC, a marketing company targeting young professionals and patrons of the cultural arts.