A new appellate ruling is raising red flags for foreclosure attorneys, who say it will dampen investor appetite for distressed properties.

“Beware all real property litigators,” Gelfand & Arpe partner Michael Gelfand, former chair of the Florida Bar’s real property, probate and trust law section, wrote in a blog entry following Wednesday’s Fourth District Court of Appeal ruling. “Rarely has this commentator commenced a ‘new decision’ brief with such a warning.”