Palm Springs, Orange County California Real Estate Lawyer and Realtor Discusses the Real Estate Crisis and Lawsuits in the Wake of the Credit Crunch

In Rancho Cucamonga, Ontario, Garden Grove, Palmdale, Corona, Escondido, Orange, Fullerton, Costa Mesa, Victorville, Carlsbad, Temecula, Murrieta, Mission Viejo, El Cajon, Vista, Westminster, Santa Monica, Santa Barbara, Hesperia, Newport Beach, Buena Park, Indio, Coachella, Chino Hills, San Diego, Orange County, Palm Springs, Palm Desert, Long Beach, Santa Ana, Anaheim, Riverside, Chula Vista, Irvine, San Bernardino, Huntington Beach, Fontana, Moreno Valley, Oceanside and all across Southern California and the nation, if you own real estate, you've seen the value of your home get a short haircut and your investment in the stock market has fallen through the basement.

While most real estate attorneys and lawyers are feeling the economic slowdown just like the rest of the country, some lawyers, real estate and bankruptcy lawyers among them, are seeing a host of clients seeking to file new lawsuits and filings in the wake of the credit crunch. And while the stock market may have a sharp rebound sooner or later, the real estate market is going to crawl back much more slowly.

Calls are pouring in to California real estate attorneys and CA property lawyers for help to fight foreclosures or to file foreclosure actions, for bankruptcies filings, landlord-tenant problems, homeowner association issues, contractors struggling to understand how their bank could cut off their credit in the middle of construction, individuals having their credit card limits slashed, and real estate buyers seeking help to get out of contracts and mortgages.

"I need help to save my home," is a common plea all attorneys are hearing. It is painful to tell such callers how limited their options are.According to a recent report, the latest problem is that delinquency rates are now rising dramatically on construction loans for single family homes.

Consequently, builders and contractors are filing lawsuits against their lenders for the damages they are suffering from this freeze in credit.More sub-prime related suits have now been filed in the 18 months that ended June 30th than in the savings and loan crisis of the 1990s. Class-action sub-prime related suits are soaring.

Class action lawsuits in California have been filed against some of the largest and now failed institutions alleging that their disclosures were misleading or that they practiced discriminatory lending practices.

It is expected that construction defect cases will be on the rise as well as builders try to cut corners to be able to make even a little profit on construction projects that have gone sour.There is, however, no quick relief for anyone filing such lawsuits. The courts are jammed and the State of California has little money to hire new judges. Criminal lawsuits take precedence and in some jurisdictions, only lawsuits running up against a requirement that they be resolved in five years are being sent to trial.

Every day, it is reported that a new wave of litigants or people are being affected by the economic crisis, whether it is people with prime as opposed to sub-prime loans, or people who are no longer able to obtain credit and who can no longer borrow money on their credit cards.

No matter what Congress does or doesn't do, the fallout from this crisis will last for many years and create a substantially different climate for business and real estate for the foreseeable future.