Real Estate

A Homeowner Benefit Agreement (HBA) is an agreement where a real estate agent contracts with a property owner for a right to sell her property in the future. The real estate agent offers the property owner a sum of money for that right. The real estate agent then would be entitled to a commission on the sale of the property. The key difference between the…

There are several legal hurdles a mortgage lender has to meet in order to be able to foreclose on your home mortgage. In this and the next blog we explain two of them: possession of the original note, and timeliness. Possession: In the mortgage lending industry, it is not uncommon that the lender loses the original document signed by the borrower where he promises to…

It sounds like a great idea: Let’s buy a property in foreclosure and then remodel it and resell it? Or perhaps, rent it out to obtain “passive” income? --not so fast. Here are two things you must check before purchasing a property in a foreclosure sale. First: Who foreclosed? This is huge. It matters who is foreclosing. If the bank holding the first mortgage is…

Title insurance, as the name indicates, is insurance to title; to the title of a real estate property, more specifically. Now to first understand “title insurance” we need to understand the concept of “liens” on real property first. A lien is essentially a claim a person (natural or juridical) has against a property because of some unpaid debt to that person by the owner of…

There is a misconception that unless you have a green card or other type of legal immigration status you cannot buy real estate. The reality is that there’s no requirement of legal immigration status to purchase real estate. Now, to purchase real estate as an individual, you are likely going to need a social security number. Many immigrants without status in the US possess a…

Ayala files a counterclaim against a lender for violation of the FL Consumer Collection Practices Act (FCCPA) in the context of a foreclosure action against its client. The Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act (“FCCPA”) provides in pertinent part: In collecting consumer debts, no person shall: . . . (9) laim, attempt, or threaten to enforce a debt when such person knows that the debt is…

In a case that started as a simple eviction for possession back in 2017, and after numerous hearings, briefs, and appeals, Ayala finally reached a settlement for its client. Originally, after Ayala’s client filed for eviction, the tenant/defendant’s counterclaimed in the eviction case alleging—to our client’s surprise—that they were the actual owners of the property. This defense alone created a plethora of jurisdictional challenges, transfers,…