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Bankruptcy

Florida Bankruptcy Law

Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy law.
By Jonathan Alper, Esq.

Post Frequency: 2.7/day

Last Entry: March 28, 2011 at 13:42:00

Bankruptcy Court Set To Require Mortgage Lenders To Negotiate Mortgage Modifications With Chapter 13 Debtors

Posted on March 03, 2010
The Orlando bankruptcy court is preparing to adopt a rule providing for mandatory mediation between homeowners and their mortgage companies to facilitate mortgage modification. Congress rejected a change in the bankruptcy code that would have empowered Chapter 13 debtors to...

Chapter 7 Trustees Offer Debtors Practical Tips Concerning Valuation And Buy-Backs Of Personal Property

Posted on February 28, 2010
The bankruptcy committee of our local Bar association holds monthly luncheons. At the most recent luncheon two Chapter 7 bankruptcy trustees discussed the bankruptcy process from the trustee?s point of view and offered a few good suggestions to debtors? attorneys...

Debtors' Revenge: Debtor Can Seek Sanction Against Creditors That Fail to Dissolve Bank Garnishment Following Bankruptcy Filing

Posted on February 24, 2010
As soon as you file bankruptcy an "automatic stay" legally goes into effect which prohibits creditors from taking any action to collect a debt. If a creditor has served a writ of garnishment against your bank account the garnishment action...

Chapter 13 Debt Limits Set To Rise: Many People Still Denied 13 Relief By High Mortgage Debts

Posted on February 21, 2010
The 2005 bankruptcy law was supposed to encourage, or require, many debtors to file a Chapter 13 repayment bankruptcy instead of a Chapter 7 "wipe out" bankruptcy. People who make too much money relative to expenses usually fail the Chapter...

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My First Nomination For The Bankruptcy Debtor's Honor Roll

Posted on February 11, 2010
Creditors, their attorneys, and some bankruptcy trustees have a negative opinion about bankruptcy debtors. I?ve read comments in the media by laymen that refer to bankruptcy debtors as either dishonest or immoral for avoiding debts they are legally and morally...

Debtors Think Their Plan Will Protect Tax Refunds From Chapter 7 Trustee

Posted on February 04, 2010
chapter 7 tax refunds

Court Refuses To Dismiss Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Because Debtor Found High-Paying Job After Filing Date

Posted on February 03, 2010
You?re unemployed. You?re poor. You are stressed-out by debts and debt collectors. So, you file Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Then, shortly after you file bankruptcy you find a job. Not just "a job" but a really good job that pays high...

Income Tax Season For Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Trustees

Posted on February 01, 2010
income tax refund chapter 7

Too Strange For Springer, Too Weird For Oprah: Debtors Try To Fix A Messed Up Transaction

Posted on January 27, 2010
Bankruptcy debtors do some strange things. A couple came to see me about a debt they forgot to put in their bankruptcy petition. The husband filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2007 by himself without an attorney. The case is closed;...

Bankruptcy Debtor's Plan To Convert Credit Card Debt To Cash

Posted on January 19, 2010
Most people who file bankruptcy do so reluctantly and as a last resort; most bankruptcy debtors are honest people who would pay back every penny if they could afford to do so. Most of my clients feel horrible and ashamed...

Forty Month Homestead Rule: Does It Count Time Of Occupancy Or Time Of Ownership?

Posted on January 14, 2010
There is less homestead protection in bankruptcy than under Florida law outside of bankruptcy court. Florida law provides immediate homestead protection without any limit on value. In bankruptcy, a debtor may protect only $137,000 of homestead value for the first...

Tenants By Entireties Exemption May Be Lost Because Of Declining House Value And Second Mortgage

Posted on January 12, 2010
I received an email from a man who was considering Chapter 7 bankruptcy to discharge a substantial amount of credit card debt. The man was married. He and his wife owned joint bank accounts with significant balances. His wife had...

Are Insurance Commission Residual Payments Exempt In Bankruptcy?

Posted on January 07, 2010
I was at bankruptcy court yesterday for some of my clients' creditor/trustee meetings. While waiting for my clients cases to be called I listened to a interesting case involving an insurance salesman. The insurance salesman (debtor) told the trustee that...

Eleventh Circuit Court Affirms Exemption Of Single-Member Keogh Retirement Plan

Posted on January 06, 2010
The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals issued an interesting decision about exemption of self-employed businessmen?s pension plans. A self-employed Florida debtor filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy listing her Keogh plan as an exempt asset. Section 222.21 of the Florida statutes exempts...

Should You Hire Debt Agency To Settle Card Debts?

Posted on December 10, 2009
Do I file bankruptcy, or do I hire a debt settlement company and try to work it out with my creditors? That?s a question many people ask themselves when they find themselves overwhelmed with credit card debt. Often, people who...

The Best Bankruptcy Client Of The Year

Posted on December 10, 2009
This is a true story. A client hired me a week ago to file Chapter 7. He wore a suit and tie to the initial conference - unusual for bankruptcy clients, but a good sign because his dress showed he...

Rebuilding Your Credit Score After Bankruptcy

Posted on December 08, 2009
The more I speak with or read articles by other bankruptcy and asset protection attorneys the more I realize that our clients ask us all the same questions. One very common client concern is rebuilding credit after a bankruptcy. Credit...

Court Permits Chapter 13 Debtor To Strip Part of Second Mortgage Securing Three Loans

Posted on December 07, 2009
I received a copy of an interesting bankruptcy court order from Jordan Bublick, a Miami bankruptcy attorney. Mr. Bublick?s debtor filed a Chapter 13 bankruptcy. The debtor had three separate loans with a large bank. Each loan was for a...

Court Says Debtor Cannot Use 401k Loan Repayments As Means Test Expense

Posted on December 07, 2009
This week I read a decision from a south Florida bankruptcy court which dealt with a few issues I frequently see in my own bankruptcy practice. Many of my clients have borrowed money from their 401k to help pay their...

Debtor Loads Debt On Dead Mother's Credit Card Before Bankruptcy

Posted on December 03, 2009
I think all bankruptcy attorneys encounter strange questions and fact situations in the lives of their bankrupt clients. Here?s one my secretary heard last week from a client who was completing our bankruptcy questionnaire. The client asked my secretary if...

Prospective Sales Commission Income In Bankruptcy Means Test

Posted on December 01, 2009
An attorney emailed me with a question about a prospective bankruptcy client who is in the real estate sales business. The real estate salesman has a few contracts in the pipeline- sales contracts are signed subject to financing contingency and...

Bankruptcy For Small Businesses

Posted on November 30, 2009
These are hard times especially for small businesses. I frequently hear from small business owners who want to "file bankruptcy for their business." The small business owner usually has personally guaranteed most of his business debts. For some reasons, the...

Bankruptcy Court Requires Reaffirmation Agreement For Homestead Mortgage

Posted on November 29, 2009
Chapter 7 bankruptcy debtors often own cars subject to a car loan and lien. The new bankruptcy law states that debtors must reaffirm loans on all personal property in order to maintain the property through their Chapter 7 bankruptcy. So,...

Creditors Leave Annoying Messages On Debtor's Telephone Answering Machine

Posted on November 28, 2009
FDCPA collection bankruptcy

Two Frequent Issues Discussed In Recent S. Florida Bankruptcy Court Opinion

Posted on November 27, 2009
This week I read a decision from a south Florida bankruptcy court which dealt with a few issues I frequently see in my own bankruptcy practice. Many of my clients have borrowed money from their 401k to help pay their...

What Happens To LLC Membership Interest In Chapter 7 Bankruptcy?

Posted on November 23, 2009
LLC exempt entireties

Can Trustee Indirectly Attack Homestead Protection By Amending A Trust Agreement

Posted on November 22, 2009
I saw an interesting post by south Florida banrkuptcy attorney Jordan Bublick. I refer many people living in sourth Florida to Mr. Bublick for bankruptcy. The post, Homestead Held in Revocable Trust, discusses a court decision involing a Chapter 7...

Chapter 13 Debtor Can Cram Down Investment Mortgage Using Balloon Payoff At Plan's End

Posted on November 19, 2009
Chapter 13 bankruptcy law permits debtors to "cram down" some secured debts. You can cram down secured car loans originated more than 910 days prior to bankruptcy, and you can cram down mortgages on investment real estate. No cram downs...

The Best Trustee Question, Ever

Posted on November 15, 2009
Picture this. I?m sitting with a bankruptcy client at a typical trustee meeting. It?s a normal Chapter 7 bankruptcy, and I don?t expect any issues. As soon as the Trustee finishes his usually opening questions and comments he ask the...

Each Spouse Wants To Protect Entireties Asset In Their Joint Chapter 7 Bankruptcy

Posted on November 12, 2009
Where one spouse files Chapter 7 bankruptcy and same debtor and the non-filing spouse has no joint unsecured debts any property owned jointly by the two spouses as tenants by entireties property is exempt and is not part of the...

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