Rusty Law

Brave New Market

Oysters can change sex at random, turn grit into pearl, and purify water at a rate of twenty-four gallons a day per adult bivalve.  With champagne production down 44% this year, there is no better time for the eastern oyster to colonize new real estate.  The same is true for first time homebuyers.  

Home sales are up 28% while the price is down 22% statewide in Florida, August to August, driving first time homebuyers off the fence by the lemming-load.  In the real estate market, there is always a deal to be had, and the buyers are having it!  

As we colonize this brave new market, there are more than a few differences to keep in mind, for example: 

• Credit requirements have gone up
• “Full Doc” really means Full Documentation
• Reserves are more important than ever, and more scrutinized too
• Source and season of gift money is crucial to make a loan savory for a lender 

Lending has changed.  Loans are happening, but it is a brave new market.  

Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World was published in 1932 at the start of the Great Depression.  The futuristic dystopia describes natural humans in an unnatural world, one without foreclosure defense attorneys, where very little recourse is available to the mass population.    

Home is Where the Heart Is

Thank you to those who donated to Saint Johns Housing Partnership on behalf of the family with a child who has a heart transplant.  If you are still looking to donate, you may contact the Saint Johns Housing Partnership at (904) 209-0844 or my office at (904) 797-9600.  Again, checks are to be made payable to “Saint Johns Housing Partnership,” and they are tax deductible.    

Literally, home is where you keep your heart, and the rest of you as well.  In my practice, I work closely with Saint Johns Housing Partnership, especially with clients seeking loan modifications.  Currently I have a client, a family that had a baby born with a heart condition.  The child had to have a heart transplant.  The heart became more important that the house, and medical bills have put their mortgage in jeopardy.  

The Saint Johns Housing Partnership (SJHP) was able to obtain a loan modification for this family.  That is what SJHP is there for.  Joy Bryant and her staff at SJHP are there to help people with financial and medical hardships navigate loan modifications.  

The family was able to raise some of the money from their own resources, but they needed help with $2300 to put that loan modification in place.  I was looking for 23 friends with $100; in one hour on WFOY 1240 AM this morning, I had found 8 of those friends.  

The donations are to be made payable to Saint Johns Housing Partnership, and those are tax deductible donations.  Furthermore, this is an all or nothing deal—if the total amount is not raised, those checks will not be cashed.  The funds must be collected in full by the end of the business day tomorrow at the Saint Johns Housing Partnership.  

This child is recovering, and this family is looking to recover financially.  A loan modification is a sign of recovery.  It is a way for that family to be able to maintain their home at an affordable rate as they deal with the ongoing recovery of their child.  

Home is where the heart is, and many people shared their hearts today.  Thank you.  

Don't Feed the Bear Market

Florida law prohibits intentional feeding of bears, and proposed Federal regulations include clawbacks for overfed bank executives.  Money and money smells attract bankers and investors.  Even garbage, such as junk bonds and subprime mortgages can attract them.  Curious investors that are not rewarded with an easy profit will direct their attention to other settings away from human habitation like the housing market.  

As the Federal Reserve becomes more involved, it is looking to become more involved again.  In order to banish the bear, the Fed proposes to oversee compensation packages on bankings' upper levels to ensure that harmful incentives are not created, and set up bear traps for employees taking excessive risks.  While executive pay has long been bait to gain and maintain talented management, the Fed is looking to poach the poachers, perhaps by linking the bonuses to the level of capital.  

For the rest of us, remain calm, back away slowly while not making eye contact.  Leave the bear an escape route, and do not put yourself between the bear and the buffet.  If you need assistance extracting yourself from a bear market encounter, speak in a calm, sure voice to a foreclosure defense attorney.  A reputable attorney will be armed with hypodermic responses to put the bear to sleep for a while, long enough for you to get to a safe distance.  

Sacred Cows & Chickens

The price of eggs in China has more relevance on your mortgage than ever before.  The credit crisis has exposed the link between rural and urban living, both here, and anywhere.  

The housing market bubbled and burst, leaving the cash cow over-inflated, milking the problem.  The price of gasoline stabilized, but the price per gallon of milk dropped sheepishly low—36% over the last year to the lowest level in 30 years.  If only cars were not lactose intolerant!  

The Rural Mainstreet Index reports mild economic improvement over many areas (though still within deficit range), except for corn.  Last year corn was worth twice per bushel what it is worth now that we have discovered the impossibilities of pure corn-based fuel.  

The Pilgrim’s Pride mansion on the East Texas Highway between Mt. Pleasant and Pittsburg features a giant, disembodied pilgrim head, ready to roll to a Brazilian beef company via a merger to rival Tyson, the nation’s largest meat company.  From humble beginnings to humiliating bankruptcy, even Pilgrim’s Pride chickened out.  

Perhaps it is not so much the price of eggs in China that will affect your mortgage, as the price of eggs in Brazil.  In any case, there is no use crying over spilled milk.  If your mortgage is in a mess, it is time to examine the options.  “Bankruptcy” or “foreclosure defense” do not connote warm fuzzy feelings; they are terms of recovery.  If you are ready to start cleaning up the mess, contact a foreclosure defense attorney to review your options.  

Herd Mentality Need Not Apply

If you are facing foreclosure, you are in a lot of company; however, you also have no reason to get lost in the stampede.  A foreclosure defense allows your case to be examined on an individual basis, where herd mentality need not apply. 

Yes, there are many many many people in foreclosure, and with unemployment rising, that number is likely to increase.  Foreclosures are projected to affect more than 2 million homes this year.  Michigan Stadium holds over 100,000 people.  If Michigan hosts 10 games in a year, it would take only two years for attendance to represent the number of homes in foreclosure.  That is a big number, but not unfathomable.     

Each homeowner is unique, and his or her circumstance is different and may be complicated by a variety of situations.  A homeowner may be single or married, divorced or widowed; there may be children living at home, or grandchildren, or a medical hardship in play.  Unemployment, physical disability or low fixed income may affect the ability of a homeowner to pay bills.  

No one solution is going to apply in all cases.  Fortunately we have a court system which can examine each case individually, and fortunately there are options to suit each case.  

Financial Fallout

Spandex can stretch to five hundred per cent its size, then immediately retract to its original shape.  We are waiting for the economy to snap back with such elasticity.  

Louis Reard designed the bikini so it could be pulled through a wedding ring—three triangles of fabric which coincided with the beginning of nuclear testing on the Bikini Atoll.  He put a woman’s body behind the trefoil symbol of radioactive material.  Seventy years later, we have bombshell blonds like Donald Trump.  

Today’s economy has left a lot of people bare.  A mannequin may look great in a bikini, but that does not mean you will look good rapt in foreclosure.  Many folks are underwater who do not prefer skimpy swimwear.  

There are a variety of legal remedies to clothe a threadbare budget—a full legal line of possibilities to fit the size and shape of every financial flaw.  Your financial future does not have to be housed in a fallout shelter.  

Summonsing Time

Physicist John Wheeler of Jacksonville, Florida said that “Time is nature’s way to keep everything from happening at once.”  Foreclosure defense is like that.  Once you receive a lis pendens, you only have twenty days to respond.  Twenty days is not a lot of time, but it’s enough to launch a foreclosure defense. 

Attorneys have not accomplished time travel yet, but we can slow down events in a foreclosure proceeding, and allow you a broader opportunity to fully examine your options and set sustainable goals.  A foreclosure defense puts you in control.  

2016 - Where Will You Be?

Anything could happen in the next seven years.  The question is, where will you be?  

Chicago has put in its bid to host the 2016 Olympics, with some question as to whether America’s third largest city can afford it.  With a poor economy strickening the city’s ability to fund the necessary infrastructure, all eyes are on the President to make the case for his hometown and our nation.  China showcased its carbon footprint in its fireworks display.  What will the Windy City do to blow away doubts? 

Foreclosure defense isn’t as glamorous as competing for a gold medal, but in both cases, it’s goal-setting time.  A foreclosure suit may be a record-breaking goal-setting opportunity in your life.  It is a summons to examine your current situation, find out what your options are, and figure out where you want to be, both now, and in 2016.  

The Facebook Factor

People in extreme conditions of life or death sometimes experience a “third man factor.”  Common in mountaineering lore and the occasional misadventure on the high seas, it is a phenomenon where a presence is felt of a person who isn’t there, someone who comforts and encourages.  This phenomenon has been linked with spiritual implications as the presence of God, and been given a biochemical explanation as a survival instinct.  In less extreme conditions, we have Facebook.  

While Facebook can be a third man in the tribulations of the business world, it may also introduce unwanted exposure.  Facebook can bring up a conflict of friends.  It narrows the seven degrees of separation vital for objectivity in the courtroom for lawyers, and it may compromise transactions for business persons.  Facebook provides a forum to be publically non-professional, which may not be what you want to present in a more sober moment.  

While social networking is vital to the business world, character fitness is an essential factor too.  

Furthermore, if your character is suffering because of foreclosure, don’t wait for the third man.  Your Facebook friends may not be able to assist you; however, a foreclosure defense attorney can help you find a path and stay on it.  

Hard Days

The first edition of the Ten Commandments was printed in stone—a tough material to govern hard situations.  All rocks are hard, and some days are hard too, espeically when you’re facing foreclosure.  

If you’re stuck between a bank and a hard payment, you may want to consider your options. Foreclosure is not an easy place, but there are choices available.  Examine your goals and tailor a route best suited for you and your family.