Blog Entries

Two Law Firms Face Trial for Alleged Role in International Child Abduction

damian@turcolegal.com — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Peter Innes, the father of Victoria Innes, the child caught in the middle of an international custody dispute has filed suit against his former wife's, Maria Carrascosa, attorneys. According to a recent article, Mr. Innes "alleges the firm aided the abduction or negligently ignored its obligation to abide by the agreement, which prohibited removing Victoria Innes from the United States and required Carrascosa's lawyer to hold Victoria's U.S. passport to prevent that from happening."

[...]

Rules to Protect Mortgage Borrowers From Abusive Lending Practices Finalized by Federal Reserve ...

damian@turcolegal.com — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Final rules effective April 2011 were announced by the Federal Reserve Board this week. According to the Board's press release, the new rules are intended to protect mortgage borrowers from "unfair, abusive, or deceptive lending practices that can arise from loan originator compensation practices."

Currently loan originators receive more compensation from lenders if the borrower's loan has an interest rate higher than the rate that the lender requires. Borrowers unaware of this prac [...]

Maternity Leave Can Hinder Your Mortgage Approval

damian@turcolegal.com — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 00:00:00 +0100

On the heels of the foreclosure crisis, as banks are entering into multi-million dollar settlements with the Securities and Exchange Commission, lenders have become much more conservative in approving home loans. According to a recent NY Times article "Maternity leave or any other leave of absence often prevents a person from obtaining a mortgage," said John Councilman, president of AMC Mortgage in Fallston, Md. "There are some who long for the days when such strict proof of income was not [...]

Record Settlements for Countrywide and Goldman Sachs

damian@turcolegal.com — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Countrywide and Goldman Sachs have both agreed to record settlements this week for their involvement in the mortgage crisis. The settlements, both of which are over $500 million, are just the tip of the iceberg as far as legal woes for both companies.

Countrywide Financial Corp., the former mortgage giant, was purchased two years ago by Bank of America. In what is being described as the largest payout so far from the mortgage meltdown, Countrywide has settled several class-actio [...]

Damian Turco to Speak at Palm Beach County Law Symposium

system@wsisearchresults.com — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Damian Turco will be speaking August 18, 2010 at the Palm Beach County Law Symposium presented by Realtors Association of the Palm Beaches, Inc. in partnership with Attorney's Real Estate Councli of Palm Beach. Details of the presentation are below:

Effective Negotiations with an HOA and COA when trying to close a short sale - Damian Turco, Esq.

1. What the Realtor should do when confronted with the question, "Should I pay the HOA?"

2. Explanations of the associat [...]

Short Sale Tax Lowered For Sellers

damian@turcolegal.com — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 00:00:00 +0100

New Florida legislation defines the term "short sale" and lowers the amount of state taxes owed when real property is sold through a short sale. When the sale price of real property is less than the outstanding debt, the state will not collect taxes on the canceled debt. Further, the state will not collect taxes on the difference between the sale price and what is owed on the property.This is good news for sellers in short sale transactions whose tax liability will be lessened by [...]

Federal Grants Help Palm Beach County Give Foreclosed Homes New Life

damian@turcolegal.com — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 00:00:00 +0100

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Neighborhood Stabilization Program has recently awarded money to many municipalities in Palm Beach County. The purpose of the program is to give state and local governments money to buy and fix up abandoned and foreclosed homes in order to sell them to low- and moderate-income buyers. According to a recent Palm Beach Post article, through this program Wellington was awarded $750,000, Boynton Beach was awarded $2.9 million, and Lake Wor [...]

The Un-Divorced

damian@turcolegal.com — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 00:00:00 +0100

A recent NY Times article discusses couples choosing long-term separation over divorce. While there can be many reasons for such an arrangement the majority of times the motivation for maintaining the marriage is financial. The combination of a depressed real estate market and the recent economic downturn are keeping many married couples together but separated. Among the financial reasons for couples to stay married are tax breaks, health care coverage, and Social Security benefits. Some co [...]

Do You Need a Pet Mediator For Your Divorce?

damian@turcolegal.com — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +0100

People often wonder what will happen to their pets if they get divorced. Florida, like most other states, considers pets property for purposes of making this decision. This means that, unlike children, courts will not analyze the best interests of the pet, order pet support, or in most cases award visitation. The court will consider the dog, cat, bird, horse, guinea pig or other pet property and award the pet to one spouse the same way it would other marital assets.

While courts may ha [...]

Comic Book Saves Home From Foreclosure

damian@turcolegal.com — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Superman saves the day for a family facing foreclosure. The family, who has decided to remain anonymous, was just about to lose their home to foreclosure. They were, in fact, packing up their belongings to move out of the home when they found a box of magazines and old comics in the basement. The box contained Action Comics No.1 published in June 1938 by DC Comics, featuring the debut of Superman. The house had been in the family since the 1950's and it was likely the wife's father had stashe [...]

Do Your Homework Before You Rent

damian@turcolegal.com — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Many renters choose to rent from private owners instead of professionally managed complexes. There can be many benefits to renting from an individual landlord, but in today's real estate market where foreclosures are commonplace and rental scams abound it is important to do your homework before signing a lease.

First and foremost it is important to find out whether the prospective landlord actually owns the property. A number of recent rental scams in South Florida have involved peo [...]

July Newsletter Now Available Online!

system@wsisearchresults.com — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Turco Legal's July Newsletter is now available online!

Click Here To View The Newsletter

Boynton Beach HOA Representative Holds Gun To Tenant's Head

damian@turcolegal.com — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +0100

In a bizarre case in Palm Beach County, a represenative of the Four Sea Suns Condominiums homeowners association was arrested and charged with armed burglary, false imprisonment, and aggravated assault. The HOA rep claims to have entered the apartment, thinking it was unoccupied, to check for leaks because of an unusually high water bill. When he encountered the tenant who had lived there since 2009, he held a gun to the man's head and called police. Upon arriving, police contacted the cond [...]

A Friendly Divorce Through Collaborative Law

damian@turcolegal.com — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +0100

A recent USA Today article discusses the growing trend for couples to separate amicably. The article cites a number of reasons for this shift, from couples having watched their parents and friends go through messy divorces to wanting children of the marriage to have the easiest transition possible.

For couples seeking to split on friendly terms Collaborative Divorce may be their best option. Collaborative Divorce has a number of benefits, but its focus on minimizing conflict between [...]

New Study Shows Divorce is Contagious

damian@turcolegal.com — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +0100

A new study conducted by James H. Fowler, a professor of political science at the University of California, San Diego and fellow researchers from Harvard and Brown Universities shows that divorce is contagious in social networks. In a recent ABC news article Fowler said someone does not necessarily have to get divorced himself to change the way divorce is viewed in a social group. According to Fowler "You might have a friend, for example, who gets divorced, and that changes you [...]

Rental Scams on the Rise in South Florida

damian@turcolegal.com — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Renters Beware! New scams targeting renters are another way that the foreclosure crisis is affecting Floridians.

A recent Palm Beach Post article discussed a Wellington-based company called Saving Palm Beach Homes Inc., run by Mark Guerette, that entered into numerous rental agreements on homes that were not actually owned by the company or its founder. The homes were in foreclosure, but Guerette hoped to use a centuries-old law to take possession of the foreclosed properties [...]

2010 Foreclosures Could Top 1 Million

damian@turcolegal.com — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Lenders are currently working through the huge backlog of borrowers that have fallen behind on their payments and have already repossessed nearly 528,000 homes in the first half of this year. If this pace continues, 2010 could see over 1 million foreclosures, an even greater number than 2009's record of over 900,000 repossessions.

Lenders set the pace for the foreclosure process and are trending toward allowing borrowers to stay in their homes for longer periods of time as the banks [...]

Premarital Divorce and Cohabitation

damian@turcolegal.com — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +0100

There is a great deal of debate on the issue of cohabitation and how it affects divorce rates. Some argue that living together before getting married allows couples to get to know one another better and better prepare for married life. Others cite research to the contrary. A recent Chicago Tribune article refers to a March report from the National Center for Health Statistics, which was based on the 2002 National Survey of Family Growth, showing that men and women who lived together befor [...]

What is Collaborative Divorce?

damian@turcolegal.com — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Collaborative Law is a new approach to divorce aimed at creating a problem-solving environment and minimizing conflict between the parties. This approach empowers the parties to move toward conflict resolution with the assistance of the members of their Collaborative Law team. The foundation of this approach is giving families privacy and support as they work towards an equitable dissolution.
Participants:
· Husband and Wife
·& [...]

Mediation Ordered For All New Foreclosures in Palm Beach County

damian@turcolegal.com — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Administrative Order No. 3.308-6/10 has been passed by the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit of Palm Beach County and is effective as of July 12, 2010. Pursuant to this order, all residential mortgage foreclosure actions filed in the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit against a homestead residence shall be referred to the RMFM Program (Residential Mortgage Foreclosure Mediation Program.) The RMFM Program will be managed by the Palm Beach CountyBar Association. For purposes of this Order "Homestead Residen [...]