Miami Lawyer Blog

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."

Consumers have two weeks left to ask for an independent review of their foreclosure cases, an analysis that could result in compensation up to $125,000 if lender wrongdoing is found.

Federal banking officials are overseeing the free reviews on primary residences that were in the foreclosure process from 2009 through 2010.

So far, 474,000 cases nationwide are pending review. The deadline for filing a request is Dec. 31.

Last year, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and other agencies ordered 14 mortgage servicers to address problems with their foreclosure practices.

"The orders directed the mortgage servicers to fix what was broken, identify who was harmed and provide remediation," said Bryan Hubbard, spokesman for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.

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Compensation ranges from a few hundred dollars up to $125,000 in the most egregious cases, Hubbard said. In rare instances, homeowners may have their foreclosures overturned, he said.

The reviews will be conducted by neutral third parties. Homeowners who ask for reviews or accept any money do not give up their rights to later sue their lenders, Hubbard said.

What's more, the reviews are not just open to homeowners who lost their properties in foreclosure. Those who completed short sales or who later brought their mortgage payments current would be eligible as long as their lenders served them with foreclosure papers at some point.

ClearPoint Credit Counseling Solutions, a Virginia-based agency with an office in Miami, is working with consumers to complete their applications. ClearPoint is a housing counseling agency approved by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

"We help them with the paperwork," said Isabel Duran, a certified housing counselor with ClearPoint.

During the height of the housing crisis, homeowners complained of improper foreclosure practices by lenders.

In late 2010, bank employees admitted under oath that they rubber stamped foreclosures without knowing the details of the individual cases.

That prompted some banks to temporarily freeze foreclosure filings and later led to a $25 billion national mortgage settlement between five major lenders and 49 state attorneys general.

The foreclosure reviews are part of an enforcement action by federal officials and are not affiliated with the $25 billion settlement.

Longtime Miami housing analyst Lewis Goodkin said the reviews are important, even in the cases that do not reveal any lender fraud.

"There won't be any giveaways, but to me, it accomplishes something," Goodkin said. "It gives the homeowners fair treatment."

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 will be the main speaker at "Defending a Foreclosure:
Helping Families Save Their Homes". The engagement will be January 22, 2013 • Miami, FL. For more information or to purchase tickets, please go to http://lawreviewcle.com/seminars/2013-01-22-Miami_FL-defending-a-foreclosure.html.

Defending a Foreclosure: Help Families Save Their Homes 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.

See Agenda

Key Topics

The Present State of the Foreclosure Crisis
Mortgage Securitization Issues
Understanding Basic Substantive Law
Client Relations
Judicial vs. Non-Judicial Foreclosures (Hunter or Hunted?)
Loan Modification / Short Sales / Deed in Lieu / Tax Issues
Bankruptcy Issues
Ethical Considerations

Speaker

Aaron R. Resnick
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 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.

Awards & Recognition

Florida Trend's Florida Legal Elite, 2009, 2010
Super Lawyers Magazine Florida Rising Stars, 2010, 2011
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"

Profession & Bar Association Membership

State of Florida, 1998
United States Supreme Court , 2004
United States District Court for the Southern and Middle Districts of Florida, 1999
United States Court of Appeals, 11th Circuit, 1999
Florida Bar - Member Business Law Committee and Sports & Entertainment Law Committee
American Bar Association - Member Business Law Committee
Dade County Bar Association
Miami Beach Bar Association
Pillar Member of the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce
Member of the United States-Mexico Chamber of Commerce The Inter-American Chapter
Member of the India-US Chamber of Commerce South Florida
Member of the America-Israel Chamber of Commerce Florida Chapter
Member of the Florida China Chamber of Commerce
Member of the Italy-America Chamber of Commerce Southeast
Member of the Panamanian American Chamber of Commerce
Member of the Columbian American Chamber of Commerce
Member of Canadian American Chamber of Commerce of South Florida
Member of the banking committee for the Asian American Hotel Owner's Association

Education

J.D., University of Florida Levin College of Law, Gainesville, Florida, 1995-1997
with Honors.

Universite de Montpellier, Montpellier, France, 1997
with High Honors.

B.A., Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, 1990-1994

Defending a Foreclosure:
Helping Families Save Their Homes
January 22, 2013 • Jacksonville, FL

Purchase access here (or for more information)

http://lawreviewcle.com/seminars/2013-01-22-Jacksonville_FL-defending-a-foreclosure.html

Defending a Foreclosure: Help Families Save Their Homes - Presented by Attorney Justin McMurray of the Law Offices of Aaron Resnick, P.A.

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.

See Agenda

Key Topics

The Present State of the Foreclosure Crisis
Mortgage Securitization Issues
Understanding Basic Substantive Law
Client Relations
Judicial vs. Non-Judicial Foreclosures (Hunter or Hunted?)
Loan Modification / Short Sales / Deed in Lieu / Tax Issues
Bankruptcy Issues
Ethical Considerations

Speaker

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

Justin McMurray is an attorney experienced in various aspects of Florida and federal law. Since becoming an attorney in 2006, he has had the pleasure of sharing his services and expertise with hundreds of clients in Florida and abroad. Born and raised in Gainesville, Florida, he studied first at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, before returning to the University of Florida to earn his Bachelor of Arts and a subsequent Juris Doctor from the University of Florida's Frederick G. Levin College of Law.

Education

J.D., University of Florida Levin College of Law, 2005
B.A., University of Florida, 2000

Professional & Bar Association Memberships

Florida -- Member Since: 2006
U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida -- Member Since: 2010
U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida -- Member Since: 2010
U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Middle District of Florida -- Member Since: 2010
U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of Florida -- Member Since: 2010

Real estate brokers have certain obligations to perform in selling real estate. If you hire a broker by signing a real estate brokerage contract or listing agreement, the agreement should set out the actions that the broker agrees to take in selling your property. Your broker also has fiduciary duties as your agent. If the broker fails to perform promised actions or fails to carry out his or her duties, you have some remedies available to you.
Getting Out of a Listing Agreement

If you want to get out of a listing agreement, for whatever reason, you should:

Look at the agreement itself to see if there is language which covers your situation
Look at the language of the agreement to see if there are duties the broker hasn't performed
Consider the time remaining on the agreement before it expires. It may be best to simply let it run out on its own, holding the listing broker to the specific conditions of sale listed in the listing agreement.

Contractual Obligations

Most states require brokerage and listing agreements to be in writing in order to be enforceable. The agreement determines when a commission is earned. A broker employed ''to sell'' or ''effect a sale'' of the property is not entitled to compensation until the broker effects a sale or procures from the buyer a binding contract of purchase. So, if your broker fails to bring about a sale or obtain a binding contract of purchase, as required by your contract, you don't have to pay your broker.

The brokerage or listing agreement typically sets out the actions that your broker agrees to take in selling your property. Such actions include:

Showing your property
Marketing your property
Negotiating with the buyers
Preparing the contract of sale
Representing you at closing

The listing agreement also typically contains a provision on how disputes should be resolved. This may include:

Arbitration
Mediation
Filing a lawsuit in small claims court or civil court

If your broker fails to do anything that he or she agreed to do in the listing agreement, you must use the dispute resolution process that you agreed to use. If a direct solution with your broker won't work, you should file a complaint with the appropriate board or court. In order for you to obtain relief, you must be able to show that you suffered some losses due to your broker's failure to perform contractual obligations.

You may want to file a complaint with your local or state real estate board, indicating that your broker did not perform as agreed.
Fiduciary Duties

Because you have a legal agency relationship with your broker, he or she has fiduciary duties to you. These duties flow from the law of agency. They include such things as:

Acting in your best interest in selling your property
Being loyal to you in carrying out the sale process
Disclosing pertinent information to you
Disclosing all offers to you

If your broker violates his or her fiduciary duties and you suffer damage as a result, you may file a complaint before the hearing body as agreed upon in the brokerage or listing agreement.

You should also file a complaint with your local or state real estate board, indicating that your broker violated his duties toward you.
Relief

Real estate brokerage contracts and listing agreements are contracts. Therefore, if you suffer losses because of your broker's failure to perform under the contract, you can sue your broker for breach of contract and obtain contractual remedies. These include:

Compensatory damages, which is a monetary award to reimburse you for your losses
Punitive damages, which is an award of money to punish or deter similar conduct in the future, depending on the law of your state, if your broker's conduct was wanton or reckless
Attorney's fees if there is a provision about attorney's fees in the listing agreement

If you suffer losses because your broker violated his or her fiduciary duties, you can sue your broker for breach of fiduciary duties, negligence, fraud or conversion. You can obtain:

Compensatory damages, which reimburse you for your losses
Punitive damages, which compensate you for wanton or reckless conduct of the broker
Attorney's fees, if allowed by law

Recovering Your Losses

If you're successful in your lawsuit against your broker and your broker has insufficient personal funds to pay for your losses, you might be able to obtain payment from your state's real estate fund. Some states have set up funds derived from real estate license fees for the payment of claims on unpaid judgments against real estate licensees for fraud and conversion of trust funds. Check with your state's real estate licensing board to see if your state has such a fund, and if so, how you can make a claim.

If you want some legal advice about your options for remedies or you want to file a complaint, contact a real estate attorney in your area.
Questions for Your Attorney

I think I have grounds to terminate my listing agreement, but my real estate broker does not agree? How complicated will it be to end the listing of my home? Could this interfere with the sale of my home if I want to list my house with another broker or if I find a buyer?
Where do I file a complaint if my broker fails to perform actions that she agreed to take in the listing agreement?
What kind of compensation can I get if my broker fails to act in my best interest?

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.

A business leasing commercial property must be careful in agreeing to and signing a lease. Beyond the dollars and cents of the agreement and the location and layout of the premises, a business leasing real estate (a "lessee" or "tenant") must consider how to protect itself before, during and after the term of the lease.

This overview addresses these issues directly, but is not an all-inclusive summary with respect to important issues facing a commercial tenant. Leasing and contract preparation requires expertise--from the lessee, from outside consultants and preferably from an experienced real estate attorney. While the author represents commercial landlords and tenants, and has substantial legal experience in real estate and leasing matters, this article should not be construed as formal specific legal advice to the reader, nor should the reader consider the author to be his/her attorney solely on the grounds of having read this article. Every tenant, every owner and every lease is unique and advice for particular circumstances really does require individual review and consideration.

Legal disclaimers aside, a lessee who wants to adequately plan for the future while protecting themselves from potential liability, unwarranted responsibilities and unnecessary legal fees should consider the issues detailed below with respect to the following five lease provisions, which commonly should be a central focus of any commercial tenant.

1. Use Limitations, Exclusive Use Provisions and Maintenance Obligations
Overview

While the intended use of the property has undoubtedly been considered well in advance of the signing of the lease agreement, it is essential that a tenant negotiate sufficiently broad limitations and inclusive language with respect to any use limitations on the premises. Due to assumptions, prior informal conversations and failure to consider potential ramifications, a tenant may overlook this important portion of any lease. Additionally, a tenant must be aware of neighboring locations within the same shopping center or similar environment which would directly compete with the tenant's business. When possible, a provision should be included barring other similar businesses that would compete with the tenant. Finally, a tenant must demand clearly defined maintenance and repair obligations.

The following considerations are recommended:

Broadly define the permitted use of the premises. The lease should broadly state what the property can be used for (ex: retail clothing and apparel store, fast-food restaurant, general non-retail office space). Ideally, the lease would allow for "any lawful use" but a landlord may demand a more narrow limitation. Regardless of oral understandings, prior use or anticipated current use, the lease should provide some detail on allowed use of the premises. A tenant must consider possible changes of modifications in their business and be sure to account for such.

Negotiate the Obligations that You Undertake. A tenant should be sure that maintenance and repair obligations are clearly defined in the lease. The agreement should clearly detail who is responsible for regular maintenance, small repairs, major repairs and any needed improvements. Typically, a tenant will be responsible for daily maintenance and potentially some small repairs, but all larger or less frequent matters should be the responsibility of the landlord.

Exclusive Use Provisions. If a tenant is moving into a large shopping center, retail facility or similar premises, care should be taken to evaluate potential competition which can be limited or eliminated with careful planning. An 'exclusive use' limitation will bind the landlord to not allow any uses on the property that directly compete with the use or business of the tenant. For example, a jewelry store that leases space in a retail shopping center can negotiate a provision that precludes the landlord from leasing out space to any other jewelry store. Exclusive use provisions are only relevant and effective where one landlord owns a large shopping center or similar facility.

2. Options to Extend the Term of the Lease

Overview

While a tenant must be careful to commit to an overly extensive term to the lease (i.e. too long), it also has an interest in securing its location and preventing an unwanted move of its business. An ideal lease term would be relatively short (2-5 years) with multiple options to extend the lease. Such an arrangement allows a tenant maximum flexibility to expand to new space if needed or to remain at the leased location for a longer period of time. The following matters should be squarely addressed in any lease extension provisions:

No Changes in Any Lease Terms. Any extension of the lease should not change any non-monetary obligations. The lease should continue on precisely the same terms, except with respect to rent and similar payments.

Applicable Rental Increase. A lease that includes options to extend the term of the lease should clearly state the amount of the rent to be charged during any extended period. Increases between rental terms should not typically exceed 5%, but cannot likely be expected to increase by an increment of any less than 2%. More complicated formulas are sometimes uses but run the risk of potential disputes or unclear definitions.

Automatic Extension or Notice to Landlord. The lease should be clear in what it takes to extend the lease. Extensions may occur 'automatically' unless the tenant provides notice to landlord of its intention to not exercise the option. Alternatively, certain defined 'notice' may be required of tenant in order to extend the lease, which if not timely provided will result in the natural termination of the lease.

Updates or Redecoration of the Premises. In connection with extended lease terms, a tenant should be sure to include a periodic obligation of the landlord to update the property and provide reasonable redecoration or renovation if needed. This type of obligation might be expected to exist every ten years.

3. Non-Rent Financial Obligations

Overview

Most lease agreements include financial obligations of the tenant in addition to simple rent payments. These may include shared utilities, property taxes, common area maintenance (CAM) expenses, insurance premiums and a variety of other case-specific fees and expenses. A tenant must be sure to adhere to the following guidelines with respect to all such financial obligations:

Clarity, Clarity, Clarity: The language providing any financial obligations of the tenant must be exceedingly clear. Nothing should be left to assumption or later negotiation.
Demand Documentation: All expenses that the tenant is required to pay should be contingent upon landlord providing adequate documentation. For taxes this would include a copy of the tax bill, for utilities this would include a copy of the utility bill, for common area maintenance this would include a detailed report of incurred expenses, etc.

Clarify the Result of Non-Payment: A lease should be clear on the result of a missed payment. A tenant will prefer for any such missed payment to amount to a non-material breach of the lease. Furthermore, the lease should be clear as to the result of non-payment due to a dispute of the amount of validity of the expense. In this regard, a tenant will want to provide some right to challenge any errant or inaccurate expenses/fees.

4. Assignment and Subletting

Overview

While the initial term of the lease typically represents the anticipated needs of a commercial tenant, most business owners understand the need for flexibility. In order to avoid the unwanted position of being 'stuck' in a lease, a careful tenant will be sure to reserve and retain its ability to assign its interest in the lease or sublease the premises. Landlords often want to limit or prohibit subleasing and assignment, so this represents a key area of negotiation. A well-advised tenant will be sure to include the following provisions with respect to assignment and subleasing:

A General Right to Assign and/or Sublease. Clear and concise language should be used to grant the tenant the right to assign or sublease the premises in its sole discretion.

Limit Landlord Discretion. If a landlord requires its consent to assign/sub-lease, this language should be included which requires the landlord to use 'reasonable' discretion.

Limit Tenant Liability. In the event of an assignment or sublease, a tenant must protect its exposure to potential liability. The assignment/sublease provisions of the lease should clearly define the limits of a tenant's liability in the event that a new tenant is taking over the lease.

5. Sale of the Property During the Lease Term

Overview

Most tenants are aware of the possibility that the owner of the property will sell the property. A tenant must be sure to secure its right to lease and use the property in the event of a sale of the property. Similarly, a landlord will want to bind the tenant to its obligations in the event of a sale of the property. A landlord will additionally want to secure related rights and assurances in connection with any sale of the property. The following represents an overview of several key concepts:

Termination of Landlord's Liability: A landlord will want to terminate its lease obligations in the event that they sell the property. A tenant should be comfortable with this language and it represents a reasonable request by landlord.

Subordination and Attornment: A landlord will often include language in a lease requiring a tenant to sign a 'subordination and attornment' agreement in the event of a sale of the property. Such an agreement binds a tenant to the new owner. This provision exists solely to benefit the owner/landlord (as well and the new buyer/owner). While its existence is not entirely objectionable to a tenant, it should be understood that agreeing to continue the lease with a new landlord carries with it some potentially substantial risk.

Estoppel Certificate: A landlord will desire a tenant to execute an 'estoppel certificate' in anticipation of a sale of the property. An obligation to execute such a certificate is often included in the lease. An estoppels certificate certifies that a lease is in place, details some its terms and certifies that there has not been a breach by the landlord. The need for such a document is understandable, but a tenant should be careful to assure that only reasonable information will be requested and that a sufficient timeframe will be granted.

Transfer of Deposit: A landlord will often want to transfer any tenant security deposits to the new owner. While this transfer does not pose any problems, a tenant should be sure that the lease clearly addresses this issue and relieves the tenant of any obligations to provide a renewed security deposit.

Right of First Refusal: In some instances, a tenant may want to negotiation a right of first refusal, to purchase the property. A right of first refusal gives the tenant the right to purchase the property on the same terms as received by the landlord in a bona fide offer which they are considering accepting.

Aaron Resnick, Esq. practices in the areas of business law and real estate law. Mr. Resnick represents business as tenants in lease transactions as well as landlords and real estate investors.

This article is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal advice with respect to any particular lease, circumstance, tenant or owner.

In 2005, Florida's legislature decided that commercial real estate brokers needed the protection of lien rights. To cure the problem, the legislature adopted a comprehensive statutory system by which commercial brokers could establish liens for both sales and rental commissions.

The commercial broker's lien attaches only to the net proceeds of sale, and not to the real property. That means that buyer acquires title free of lien. The lien arises only when the commission is earned. That generally means when a sales contract is signed.

The lien belongs only to the broker in the brokerage agreement. It can not be factored or sold by the broker, which means the broker can not assign the lien to a third party or sell it. It can not be waived before the commission is earned.

Commercial brokers are required to inform property owners at time a listing agreement is entered that Florida Statutes create lien rights for commissions earned by the broker that are not waivable before the commission is earned. If the broker does not provide a disclosure, the broker can not enforce the lien under the statute.

To enforce the lien, a broker must provide a commission notice to the owner and closing agent. The notice must be sworn and signed before a notary public, and must include name of the owner, legal description of the property, name, mailing address, telephone number and license number of the broker, and effective date of the brokerage agreement. The notice must also include a statement that the statute requires the owner to dispute the claimed commission not later than 5 days after closing or the owner will be deemed to have confirmed the commission and the closing agent is required to pay the commission from the owner's net proceeds.

A notice must be delivered to both owner and closing agent within 30 days after a commission is earned and at least one day before closing. If the broker does not know who the closing agent is at the time the commission is earned, the broker must deliver the commission to the closing agent within 3 days after the broker finds out the identity of the closing agent.

After the broker delivers the commission notice, the broker may record the notice in the public records maintained by the Clerk of Court in the county where the property is located. Recording date establishes its priority with respect to any other claims against the owner's net proceeds of sale. The broker must record a release within 7 days after the commission is paid.

The Statute imposes specific duties on the closing agent with respect to the commission. The closing agent must reserve from the owners net proceeds an amount equal to the commission claimed by the broker if the owner has provided a commission notice. If the net proceeds are insufficient to pay the full commission, all of the net proceeds must be held by the closing agent.

If the broker has recorded a commission notice with the Clerk for at least 60 days, the closing agent is charged with constructive notice and must comply with the withholding requirement. Accordingly, the statute allows the closing agent to require the owner to deliver a sworn statement as to existence of terms of any brokerage agreement and the name, address, and telephone number of any brokerage who might have a claim to a commission. If the closing agent obtains this sworn statement from an owner, the closing agent must reserve from the owner's net proceeds an amount equal to the total commission disclosed by the owner, even if the closing agent did not receive a commission notice from the broker. If the closing agent determines that the owner's net proceeds will be inadequate to pay the entire commission, he must notify both owner and broker of that fact within 3 days of making the determination.

If the owner's cash from closing is insufficient to pay the commission, but the owner is getting a purchase money note, the closing agent is to reserve and release the note only as the owner and broker agree. If the owner and broker do not agree within 5 days after closing, the closing agent is required to file a court action seeking an order of disposition of the note.

Upon request of the closing agent or the owner, any broker who has recorded a commission notice with the clerk must give the closing agent a release in recordable form. The closing agent is required to hold the release in escrow until payment of the commission. The closing agent may deduct from the broker's commission recording cost of the release.

If the owner disputes the commission notice, the statute provides an expedited procedure under which the owner can apply for a court order. Under the procedure, the broker is ordered by the judge to show why the commission notice should not be discharged. If the broker fails, the broker must pay the attorneys fees and costs of the owner and the closing agent and the court will enter an order releasing the broker's.

There is no comparable statute with respect to residential real estate. In fact, Florida Statutes prohibit a broker or sales associate form recording any document which would affect title or encumber real property for purpose of collecting a commission unless expressly permitted by contract with the owner or the broker has otherwise perfected his claim through court judgment.

The statutes give commercial brokers a powerful tool for collection of commissions. They also increase the importance of reading and understanding all terms of brokerage and commission agreements. In your case, prompt action will minimize any problems. I suggest you consult with an experienced attorney immediately.

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.

FRAUD ALERT!!! Florida Real Estate Licensees - Agents and Brokers!!!

The Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulations- DBPR- is warning ALL Florida real estate licensees, that is agents and brokers that apparently there is an identity theft scam that is targeting real estate licensees. For more information on the warning, click here. An unsolicited email which appears to be from the Department warns of pending disciplinary action against licenses. The email directs the recipient to call a Department investigator at a toll-free number and provide personal identification information.

Of course, any email like this is meant to scare the pants off of you and throw you off guard so that your defensive mechanism steps up to take action to protect your livelihood from possibly being pushed to a stop. This is intentional.

The broker is then told in the email to call an 800 number, provide their personal information to a " department investigator" .
The Department has confirmed that the email communication is in no way connected with the Department or its regulatory authority. This email is NOT from DBPR, the investigator is a scammer trying to get your personal information so they can steal the caller's identity.

If you get an email like this DO NOT RESPOND TO THE EMAIL and DO NOT CALL THE NUMBER IN THE EMAIL!!!!

Instead, call the DBPR at 850-487-1395 or go to the website to check on the status of your license and if there are any actions being taken on your license.

The theft of identity is a crime and should be reported to the authorities and to your local law enforcement.

The Department is currently investigating this scam and will keep updates on their website.

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.

For many real estate professionals, commission disputes are simply part of the business. In fact, just about every licensee's career--whether spanning several years or several decades--is likely to include at least some experience with a dispute over commissions. Of course, the origin of the dispute may vary. Maybe it involved a seller whose property you had listed, who decided before the closing that he or she didn't want to pay the listing agreement's agreed-upon commission. Or the dispute was with a broker from another firm and involved the question of whether or not you were the procuring cause of a sale.

In this blog post we will discuss the different type of commission dispute--the one that arises between brokers and their sales associates -- and some of the common questions.

Will the Florida Real Estate Commission resolve a commission dispute that exists between a broker and his or her sales associate?

No. Generally speaking, FREC doesn't resolve commission disputes. Disputes over commissions (or any other agreed-upon compensation) between a broker/brokerage firm and its sales associates are civil matters. The ultimate recourse for sales associates looking to recover unpaid commissions is to file suit against the broker/brokerage firm.

If these disputes are civil matters, then what factors would be considered by a court in determining the outcome of the lawsuit?

Generally, the "employment" agreement that exists between the broker/brokerage firm and the sales associate will be the controlling factor in determining outcome. Many brokers require a sales associate to sign a written independent contractor agreement as a condition to being allowed to place his or her license with the broker.

These written agreements typically address compensation matters such as the amount of the sales associate's commission split, when a sales associate earns a commission, the time frame in which the broker/brokerage firm is obligated to pay the sales associate, the rights of the broker/brokerage firm to deduct from the sales associate's compensation amounts due the broker/brokerage firm, as well as many other matters relating to the broker-sales associate "employment" relationship.

In addition to a written independent contractor agreement, any existing office policy manual as well as the past business practice of the broker/brokerage company and any verbal agreement between the parties that can be shown to exist may play an important role in determining a sales associate's entitlement to, and the broker/brokerage firm's obligation to pay, the disputed compensation.

If a sales associate who obtains a judgment for disputed commissions is not paid by the broker pursuant to that civil judgment, would FREC then have cause to discipline the broker if it receives a complaint against the broker?

Yes. Section 475.25(1)(d), Florida Statutes, provides that FREC may discipline a licensee where a civil judgment for a share of a commission has been obtained against that licensee "and said judgment has not been satisfied in accordance with the terms of the judgment within a reasonable time. ..."

Some commission disputes between brokers who are real estate licensees are subject to mandatory arbitration at their local Board/Association of Realtors®. Would a commission dispute between a sales associate and his or her broker, where both parties are Realtors, also be subject to arbitration at the local Board/Association of Realtors®?

Such a dispute would be subject to local Board arbitration only if both parties (i.e., both the broker and the sales associate) voluntarily agree to the arbitration in writing and the local Board/Association of Realtors® finds the matter properly subject to arbitration.

The Law Offices of Aaron Resnick, P.A.'s group of attorneys are able to assist clients in every facet of Fashion Law. For more information contact attorney Aaron Resnick,
e the norm." According to Resnick, proper legal work may have prevented this dispute.

Law Offices of Aaron Resnick's Lawsuit Against the W Hotel Featured in the New York Times

Here is an excerpt from the article:

"The hotel operators sign management contracts, but they don't lock themselves in forever. One day the W South Beach could be a W and the next it could be a Sheraton.

The fine print has created work for lawyers. In June a group of pro football players sued the W South Beach's developer, 2201 Collins Fee (led by Mr. Edelstein), alleging that the developer had used a "sophisticated scheme to lure buyers to the project by using the W name as bait only to sell them a unit that was not in fact a W unit." The players are looking to get back their deposits.

'A condo hotel is a very difficult investment strategy," said Aaron Resnick, a Miami lawyer representing the football players in the suits. "It's not such an easy, simple purchase where you are going to buy and get a rent check every month. It is a lot more complicated than that.'"

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/23/realestate/big-deal-w-south-beach-a-sexy-investment-but-read-the-fine-print.html?pagewanted=all

3 new programs aimed at improving the housing market

Foreclosed homes continue to plague communities, the housing market and the economy. Banks completed 3.2 million foreclosures between 2008 and 2011, and half again as many lurk in a "shadow inventory" that includes homes with seriously delinquent mortgages, those that are in the foreclosure process and those that have been taken over by banks but not yet listed for sale, according to CoreLogic, a mortgage data firm. Many of those homes are vacant, and they sell for about one-third less than other properties, on average.

Foreclosures have been a drag on the market for years, and relief can't come soon enough. But the latest proposed fixes won't get rolling before year-end.

The Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) helps troubled borrowers by reducing their monthly mortgage payment to 31% of their gross monthly income, usually by reducing their interest rate, extending the loan term, deferring repayment of principal or forgiving some of it. The Treasury has extended the program through the end of 2013, tripling the incentives for lenders that choose to reduce loan principal. Borrowers will begin qualifying under the expanded criteria by this summer. Bank analysts estimate that the beefed-up program will help an additional half-million homeowners. For more, visit www.makinghomeaffordable.gov.

A mass-refinancing plan would allow borrowers who owe more than their house is worth but who are current on their loan payments to refinance at today's low interest rates. The plan would save such borrowers an average of $3,000 annually. The catch: Congressional approval of a fee paid by the largest lenders to fund the program is unlikely.

A pilot buy-to-rent program launching this year in hard-hit markets will let investors buy foreclosures from Fannie Mae, then rent them out. Look for the program in Atlanta, Chicago, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Phoenix and parts of Florida. Investors must qualify to participate (for information, go to www.fhfa.gov). The aim is to make a quick dent in the supply of foreclosures for sale. Success depends on whether bargain-hungry investors pay the prices Fannie expects for its properties.

None of the programs is a quick fix. In fact, the pace of foreclosures will continue to pick up in the wake of a $25 billion settlement reached in February among the federal government, attorneys general in 49 states and the nation's largest mortgage servicers. Although much of that money is slated for principal reductions, refinancing and other consumer assistance, banks are now free to step up foreclosures that were delayed pending the settlement.

Foreclosure fixes will become moot as the economy gains traction and housing demand picks up, says economist Celia Chen at Moody's Economy.com. By 2013, the number of distressed sales will still be high, but their share of total home sales will decline, allowing home prices to rise. The speed of recovery depends on how big a market share distressed properties represent.

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.

On May 2, 2012, Charles Schwab & Co. announced an initiative to make its website more accessible for all customers, particularly those who are blind or have sight disabilities. This high-profile development was part of the settlement of a claim by Kit Lau, a Charles Schwab customer for more than 25 years.

While many have focused on the Americans with Disabilities Act's (ADA's) ever-changing pool lift requirements, we continue to see the DOJ and private advocacy groups driving to enforce the original regulations promulgated 20 years ago under the ADA. As of December 31, 2011, more than 13,130 lawsuits had been filed under the ADA, and the trend continues to grow.

Charles Schwab settlement is one of 15 prominent web site settlements

Charles Schwab, one of the nation's leading securities broker-dealers, and a disability rights advocacy attorney, announced last week that they settled a year-long claim by a blind customer that its website was inaccessible to blind, low vision and cognitively challenged customers. The structured negotiations concluded this dispute short of trial.

With this settlement, Charles Schwab joins a list of 15 prominent companies which have settled website accessibility complaints. Charles Schwab agreed that it will make its website more accessible and inclusive for all customers, and agreed to implement the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Version 2.0 Level AA which will make its website navigable by disabled customers.

An informal complaint backed by the threat of litigation and administrative investigations was lodged with Charles Schwab by the lawyer for a blind day trader. The claimant was a long-time Schwab customer and herself a computer programmer. One morning, she found that she could no longer navigate the Schwab website using JAWS software and was prevented from making trades on-line. The JAWs software reads aloud the text of the page so blind and low vision customers can access the website.

No DOJ-approved standard for websites

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has not approved and adopted any formal standards for website accessibility and recently withdrew its Notice of Proposed Rule Making for web access standards. The Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) has been working for years and has promulgated the WCAG which is widely recognized as the "gold standard" for web access. However, given the almost daily changes in technology and the complexities of cyberspace, there are no official website standards.

Most recent DOJ investigations and settlements have focused on website accessibility. Target Corp. recently paid over $6 million to settle a website ADA class action.

What does this settlement mean to you?

If you have not examined your website for ADA compliance, now is the time to do it. Not only does your website need to comply with the substantive requirements for accessible features, for example, but the website itself needs to be accessible to disabled customers. You need to ask yourself some questions. For example:

What standards of accessibility is your website hosting?
How do you measure website compliance?
How often do you audit your website for ADA compliance?

We see the Charles Schwab settlement as reinforcing the importance of ADA compliance for website accessibility as dramatically emphasized in the Hilton ADA settlement with the DOJ. In that recent landmark settlement, Hilton agreed to implement changes to its websites to make them accessible to all customers.

Wakeup call for compliance

Now is the time to audit your website and implement changes to make them accessible, if you have not taken action to make them accessible to disabled customers. Website accessibility audits are far more technical than an ADA Compliance Audit for a hotel and requires highly specialized expertise. The Law Offices of Aaron Resnick, P.A. works with experienced website compliance auditors. Since your secrets are only protected with your lawyer, you should consult with an experienced ADA attorney to help evaluate your company's website.

Charles Schwab is implementing enhanced website accessibility features based on a time table set by a settlement agreement. If you are proactive, you can set your own time table, control the content of your website, and control your own destiny.