Dodd-Frank Act: how it came into being, and how it can help you as a home owner in mortgage trouble

Dodd-Frank Act

The crisis that almost felled our country’s banking system in late 2008 was the culmination of years of poor financial policies at many levels, both from business and government. Although much of the blame does fall on the banks and other institutions in the financial industry, the federal government itself also accepts blame for the severity of the recession that followed.

“Our broken financial regulatory system was a principal cause of that crisis. It was fragmented, antiquated, and allowed large parts of the financial system to operate with little or no oversight. And it allowed some irresponsible lenders to use hidden fees and fine print to take advantage of consumers,” according to White House’s own article on the subject called Wall Street Reform: The Dodd-Frank Act.

While running for President Barack Obama pledged that if he won the job one of the first pieces of legislation that he would fight for would be a modernization of the laws governing the country’s financial system and Wall Street. The financial reform legislation that came out of that promise was the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, passed into law in 2013.

The White House article goes on to say that “as the most far reaching Wall Street reform in history, Dodd-Frank will prevent the excessive risk-taking that led to the financial crisis. The law also provides common-sense protections for American families, creating new consumer watchdog to prevent mortgage companies and pay-day lenders from exploiting consumers. These new rules will build a safer, more stable financial system—one that provides a robust foundation for lasting economic growth and job creation.”

To read more on this article, please go to: https://www.whitehouse.gov/economy/middle-class/dodd-frank-wall-street-reform

One of the most important pieces of that legislation is the “consumer watchdog” that was created to prevent mortgage companies and other lenders from taking advantage of consumers. Over the next few blog posts we will offer more information on how the Foreclosure and Bankruptcy Defense Attorneys at Korte & Wortman, P.A. in West Palm Beach have the knowledge and information to help you to utilize the Dodd-Frank Act if you feel that you have been exploited by a predatory lender.

If you are in West Palm Beach, Ft. Lauderdale, Clearwater or anywhere else in the state of Florida and in need of a law firm knowledgeable about the Dodd-Frank Act, then contact us at Korte & Wortman, P.A. Korte & Wortman, P.A. is a law firm specializing in all aspects of real estate law, includingth Dodd-Frank Act. In addition to using this blog as a helpful resource, please contact us directly if you have any questions or current legal issues in any type of real estate transaction. Our home office is based in West Palm Beach, at 2041 Vista Parkway, Suite 102. You can call us at (561) 544-7071, stop in to our office, email us at vdinapoli@kwlawfirm.com or come to our website at http://www.foreclosurefactor.com. Our firm represents clients throughout the state of Florida and across the eastern seaboard. We also have offices in Sunrise and Clearwater, Florida.

We look forward to helping you get the legal advice that you need in all real estate, foreclosure, bankruptcy and credit card situations.

West Palm Beach, Miami and Ft. Lauderdale bankruptcy courtrooms covert to digital audio recordings

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On July 30th the United State Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida announced that it would be transitioning all bankruptcy court rooms district-wide to digital audio recordings (DAR) of all court proceedings starting on Saturday, August 1, 2015. Here are the contents of the press release from the Court:

“On August 1, 2015, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Florida [Miami Division] will transition to digital audio recording (DAR) of all court proceedings. The courtroom technology selected is ForTheRecord® (FTR). Installation of new hardware and software necessary to accommodate DAR has been completed district-wide in the Miami, Ft. Lauderdale and West Palm Beach bankruptcy courtrooms. For an interim period, requests for transcripts will continue to be submitted to the court-approved transcript reporting company, Ouellette and Mauldin until such time as we have had an opportunity to accept and review solicitations from transcription companies interested in being added to the court-approved list.

The court went on to state that all attorneys and other parties appearing in court needed to follow certain “guidelines” pertaining to the optimal use of the digital audio recording system in the courtrooms:

“As a reminder, we ask that you become familiar DAR etiquette and get in the habit of following these basic guidelines when appearing in all bankruptcy courtrooms:

1) Speak clearly and audibly into the microphones. Only one person at a time should be speaking,

2) Each time you speak, please identify yourself by stating your name and the party(s) whom you represent. Spell difficult names for the record,

3) The DAR is extremely sensitive to sounds. All side conversations in the courtroom may be recorded.

Please direct inquiries to: Webmaster_FLSB@flsb.uscourts.gov ”

For more information about bankruptcy court, the new digital audio recording (DAR) system and how it may affect your appearance in bankruptcy court, or if you are in need of a bankruptcy attorney or bankruptcy defense lawyer, please contact us at Korte & Wortman, P.A. at (561) 544-7071 or go directly to the bankruptcy page of our website, http://foreclosurefactor.com/practice-areas/mortgage-litigation/bankruptcy-faqs/.

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We look forward to assisting you with any foreclosure, bankruptcy, credit card debt defense or other real estate legal questions or issues that you may have.

An article from the Assouline & Berlowe, P.A. law firm was read to help compile the new courtroom guidelines list used in this blog:  https://assoulineberlowe.wordpress.com/2015/07/29/shhhhh-in-the-courtroom-bankruptcy-court-goes-digital/