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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

Florida Bar Homeowner Assistance Article

Posted on September 30, 2008
A recent blog post described a voluntary program initiated by the Florida Bar to help homeowners negotiate with mortgage lenders. An article about this program appears in the current issue of the Florida Bar News. Link: Fighting against foreclosure. The...

Draft of Financial Recovery Act Promises Foreclosure Relief

Posted on September 28, 2008
The current draft of the governments? financially recovery act, formally the "Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008" contains several provisions designed to help homeowner prevent foreclosure. The terms of the Act are drafted in general, unspecific terms, and certainly there...

Using Chapter 7 Bankrputcy To Battle Mortgage Lender Seeking Foreclosure

Posted on September 28, 2008
I probably get one or more calls and emails each day from someone who wants to file Chapter 7 bankruptcy because they are facing a mortgage foreclosure. People believe they should file bankruptcy to avoid a deficiency judgment that they...

Modification Of Chapter 13 Plans For Debtors In Financial Distress

Posted on September 28, 2008
I attended a meeting of local bankruptcy attorneys where the Chapter 13 Trustee spoke about current developments. She stated that the real estate recession in Florida, and job losses in many related industries is causing more and more Chapter 13...

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Joint Tax Refund Not Protected As Entireties Asset

Posted on September 14, 2008
There have been several cases in recent years, after 2001, dealing with exemption in bankruptcy of joint tax refunds where only one spouse has filed bankruptcy. The general rule is that property owned jointly by husband and wife is exempt...

Here?s a question I received last

Posted on September 13, 2008
Here?s a question I received last week about using Chapter 13 bankruptcy to rescue an investment property and a primary residence from foreclosure. "I"m in the midst of having two homes foreclosed on. One in an investment propert with a...

Question About Income Taxes In Chapter 7 Bankruptcy

Posted on September 13, 2008
Treatment of income tax debt in Chapter 7 bankruptcy is a complicated subject. There are many rules and exceptions to the rules applicable to determine if past due taxes can be discharged. I received the following question by email: "I...

Can Chapter 13 Help Debtor With $ 1 Million Plus Mortgage

Posted on September 13, 2008
Here?s a question I received last week about using Chapter 13 bankruptcy to save an investment property and a primary residence from foreclosure. "I'm in the midst of having two homes foreclosed on. One in an investment propert with a...

Stay Of Residential Evictions Under New Bankruptcy Law

Posted on September 10, 2008
I received the following email from a landlord (creditor) concerning a tenant who filed bankruptcy on the eve of eviction. "I got my final judgment for possession count 1 only Sept. 4 my tenant went to file bankruptcy September 5...

Cash Value Life Insurance Owned Jointly With Non-Filing Spouse

Posted on August 29, 2008
The cash value of a life insurance contract may be exempt under Florida law. Cash value life insurance is exempt only to the extent of life insurance owned by the debtor insuring his own life. The exemption does not hinge...

Trustee Pursues Next Year's Tax Refund This Year

Posted on August 26, 2008
In previous years Chapter 7 trustees would inquire about debtors? income tax refunds after the first of the year through May or June. They would ask if the debtors had filed their tax returns, if they had received a refund...

Person Earning $25,000 Per Month Wants To File Chapter 7 Bankruptcy

Posted on August 20, 2008
Most people would agree that a person who makes $25,000 per month should not be able to discharge his unsecured debts in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy. One such high-earning individual came to my office to discharge over $1million of unsecured...

Does Creditor Commit Fraud By Using Credit Card and Filing Bankruptcy Soon Thereafter?

Posted on August 05, 2008
Many debtors express concern that a creditor will say they were defrauded when the debtor used the credit card filed bankruptcy wiping out the debt. I am often asked how far back will creditors look in deciding whether use of...

Appeals Court Upholds Discharge Denial For Homestead Purchase and Improvement Shortly Before Bankruptcy

Posted on August 03, 2008
Purchasing a homestead in Florida shortly prior to filing bankruptcy could be deemed a fraudulent transfer and lead to a denial of your bankruptcy discharge. Purchasing or improving a Florida homestead and then filing bankruptcy soon thereafter is, by itself,...

Bankruptcy Does Not Discharge Some Attorneys Fees

Posted on July 29, 2008
Bankruptcy does not solve all debt problems. This week I interviewed a client who wanted to file Chapter 7 bankruptcy to stop a lawsuit. The prospective client had been appointed trustee of a family member?s trust. After the family member...

Second Mortgage Lender More Likely To Pursue Deficiency Judgment

Posted on July 24, 2008
I have often written about mortgage deficiency judgments pointing out that up to now few institutional mortgage lenders are pursuing deficiencies in Florida. Borrowers should distinguish between personal liability on first and second mortgages. When either the first or second...

Is Unmarried Roomate Included in Household Size?

Posted on July 17, 2008
Here's an interesting article I found concerning the amount of people counted in determining size of a debtor's household.Link: Can I Include My Roommate in My Household Size? : Bankruptcy Law Network. The larger the size of the debtor's household...

Court Denies Entireties Ownership Of Law Practice

Posted on July 17, 2008
An attorney formed a corporation to own his law practice. He formed the corporation under Florida?s general corporation statute instead of the professional corporation statute. He issued all the stock to himself and his wife jointly. The lawyer then filed...

Insuring Your Bank Deposits

Posted on July 15, 2008
In the past few days following the failure of IndyMac Bank in California I received a few email questions from people concerned about the safety of their bank accounts. Most people know that the FDIC incures bank accounts up to...

Defending Mortgage Foreclosure

Posted on July 01, 2008
There are so many foreclosures and so few attorneys who know how to defend on behalf of the homeowner. I have referred many clients facing foreclosure to an Orlando real estate attorney named David Cohen. David has had good success...

Unfiled Tax Returns: Chapter 13 Bankruptcy

Posted on June 29, 2008
I received an interesting email about Chapter 13 and income taxes from attorney Larry Heinkel from St. Petersburg. Mr. Heinkel specializes in the area of income taxation and bankruptcy and represents debtors in bankruptcy courts throughout Florida. (taxproblemlaw...

A Resident of Another Country Wants To File Bankruptcy in Florida

Posted on June 29, 2008
Can a person who currently resides in another country file bankruptcy in Florida? A client called to discuss elimination of his credit card debts which he accumulated while living in Florida. The client and spouse recently moved from Florida and...

Debtor's Discharge of Attorneys Fees Payable As Part of Divorce Judgment

Posted on June 22, 2008
A Chapter 7 debtor cannot discharge alimony or child support obligations. A bankruptcy client asked me whether he could discharge that part of a divorce judgment related to his spouse?s attorneys fees. I found that this issued had been addressed...

Are Joint Tax Refunds Protected As Entireties Property When One Taxpayer Files Bankruptcy?

Posted on June 21, 2008
Florida law presumes that personal property owned jointly by married couples is tenants by the entireties property which is exempt if one spouse files bankruptcy individually. A new client this past week asked me if a tax return he expects...

Workers Compensation Payments in Bankruptcy

Posted on June 12, 2008
I consulted today with a client who is the beneficiary of a workers? compensation award. He currently receives monthly workers? comp payments, and he expects an additional lump sum settlement in the near future. A creditor recently received a large...

Chapter 13: Court Determines Amount of Avoided Secured Liens

Posted on June 01, 2008
In Chapter 13 bankruptcy the debtor can wipe away part or all of some judicial liens. Judicial liens are liens placed on property by judgment creditors as opposed to purchase money liens which are placed on property by the vendor...

Does Means Test Include Income Earned By Non-filing Live-in Companions?

Posted on May 31, 2008
Many Chapter 7 means tests involve issues about the size of a household and computations of household income. Consider the following questions posed in an email. A prospective debtor lives with his young child and the child?s mother. The debtor...

Joint Tax Refund: Is It Exempt As Entireties Asset?

Posted on May 30, 2008
I would expect that tax refunds payable to husband and wife who filed taxes jointly would be considered tenants by entireties property exempt from the creditors of either spouse. A bankruptcy trustee challenged the exemption of a joint tax refund...

Can An Undersecured Mortgage Lender Attack Tenants By Entireties Assets In Chapter 7?

Posted on May 20, 2008
I often get legal questions I can?t answer with certainty. For instance, I recently consulted with a man who had guaranteed a large business debt. His wife did not sign the guarantee. The man and his wife had most of...

Negotiating With Car Lenders

Posted on May 20, 2008
I had a conversation with some bankruptcy attorneys at the bankruptcy court building. The attorneys told me that their own bankruptcy clients have had increasing success negotiating with automobile finance companies to modify terms of car loans after the clients...

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