Pre-Construction Deposit Refunds

The crash of the real estate market in Florida, which was more felt as early as the beginning of 2007, prompted many real estate buyers to second guess whether it made financial sense to close on their contracts for the purchase of luxury pre-construction condominiums in Florida.  This, coupled with the fact that certain developers had engaged in certain violations of Federal and State law, including the breach of these contracts and sometimes even fraud, caused an unprecedented rise in litigation for the recovery of deposits in pre-construction condominiums, which is now full blown.

Many legal strategies exist that can still help a buyer recover all or part of his/her deposit and avoid FORFEITING all sums of a buyer’s deposit, but the buyer must act soon.  A buyer must take acation before a developer goes bankrupt, or the development is taken over by the bank, which lent the money to the developer.  These two circumstances may jeopardize the amount of deposit recovery for a buyer unless that buyer takes action now to attempt to recover his/her condo deposit by consulting with an attorney focused in this type of practice.

The attorneys at the The Saenz Law Firm, P.A. have investigated, negotiated, or litigated hundreds of condo deposit cases all over South Florida and are intimately familiar with the laws governing pre-construction property offerings, contractual law governing purchase agreements for pre-construction condominiums, and specific issues concerning condominium development.  Our cases have involved issues dealing with 15 U.S.C.  §§ 1701-1720, the Interstate Land Sales Full Disclosure Act (also known as ILSA or ILSFDA), the Florida Statues Chapters 718 and 720, claims for breach of contract under state law, and depending on each buyers’ potential circumstances, other claims, including fraud.

If you have a question regarding the potential recovery of your codo deposit, please do not hesitate to contact us for a FREE consultation by calling us at 1-800-509-0014, or by sending us an email to msaenz@saenzlawfirm.com

R. Martin Saenz, Esq., is a shareholder and senior litigation attorney at THE SAENZ LAW FIRM, P.A., 777 Brickell Avenue, Ste. 1100, Miami, Florida 33131.  His practice focuses on the negotiation and litigation of pre-construction condo deposits and in the litigation of employment cases.

Loan Modification vs. Foreclosure in Florida: Understanding the Process

For many concerned home owners the definitions of the words “loan modification” and “foreclosure” are interchangeable or highly confusing and hard to understand.  I do not blame them.  All of the advertising and discussions on the topic seem to make it a point to keep it that way.

In plain english, a loan modification is an administrative process of negotiation in which a bank representative (usually a non-lawyer) evaluates whether it makes business sense for a lender to give a “break” to the home owner in order to keep him/her as a customer.  Conversely, a loan modification is an administrative process in which the home owner negotiates better payment terms on his/her mortgage with the lender. Of course, a successful loan modification occurs when both, the lender and the home owner, agree on what the “break” would be.

On the other hand, a foreclosure refers to the judicial process which a lender initiates (through its lawyers) to take property (your house) that was attached as collateral when a loan was funded and the homeowner failed to make payments on that loan (the mortgage).  A successful foreclosure is one in which the lender, through its lawyers, takes your home.

To put in perspective, a “loan modification” and a “foreclosure” are two different processes and to understand how they work is crucial in attempting to keep your home.

A sound advice to homeowners is to immediately defend their foreclosure case (preferrably with a lawyer*) to avoid losing your home in an expedited manner, without raising any potential defense.  This will give you at least more time to better negotiate your mortgage and potentially end up getting a ”break” from your lender.

* A lawyer is better equipped to sail through the judicial process in a foreclosure case and she/he will be able to assist a client to identify any potential defense or claim that may be raised against a lender, all of which will naturally give more opportunity to a homeowner to negotiate his/her mortgage.

R. Martin Saenz, Esq., Partner at The Saenz Law Firm, P.A.

msaenz@saenzlawfirm.com

www.saenzlawfirm.com