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Florida Bankruptcy Exemptions Provide Protection

Florida Bankruptcy Exemptions Chapter 7 bankruptcy is what most people would think of when they think “bankruptcy.” It is the process by which individuals have many or all of their debts discharged. This is achieved through a liquidation process by which many of the debtor’s assets are sold. The proceeds from this liquidation are then used to satisfy creditors. Whatever debt is leftover is, in many cases, then wiped out, giving the debtor a clean slate. This process may seem frightening,[...]

Florida Real Estate Basics: The Deed

If you are buying or selling a home in Florida, you expect to fill out a lot of documents in the process but may not know the meaning of each of the documents involved in your Florida real estate sale. One of the most important documents is the Deed. A deed is a legal document that conveys the property from the seller to the buyer. In it the seller makes a number of covenants, or promises, to the buyer. Not all deeds are the same and they are distinguished by the different types of covenants th[...]

Opportunities For Real Estate Purchasers and Sellers in Florida

The latest trends and reports from Florida Realtors® demonstrate shifting tides in the Florida real estate market that seem to favor sellers. The median sale price of single family homes rose from $199,900 to $225,000 between August 2015 and August 2016. This means that housing prices are on the rise and sellers, especially those who bought when the market was low, are seeing potential to profit from their investment. As prices continue to rise so does the risk that the market will hit an apex[...]

Understanding the Bankruptcy Discharge

One of the biggest advantages of filing for Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy is the bankruptcy discharge of certain debts that comes along with successful completion of the proceedings.  A Bankruptcy Discharge Is… A bankruptcy discharge is a permanent court order prohibiting creditors of the bankruptcy debtor from taking any action to collect discharged debts. This includes legal action as well as direct communications with the debtor (text messages, phone calls, emails, letters, etc.). I[...]

Pro Se Bankruptcy – Don't Go It Alone

Pro se is a Latin phrase meaning “for oneself” or “on one’s own behalf.” It refers to individuals who don’t use an attorney but instead, represent themselves in court. The rules that govern proceedings in federal courts (bankruptcy courts are federal) explicitly permit persons to appear pro se and represent themselves. However, just because something is permissible doesn’t always mean it’s a good idea. In re Baker 544 B.R. 461, a recent a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy case out of the Uni[...]

Automatic Stay to Prevent Creditor Lawsuits

If you’ve fallen behind on credit card, mortgage, or other payments on debt, it’s easy and natural to ignore the problem. This is particularly true if you don’t currently have the money to pay off the debt. You might be thinking if you just wait and ignore the collection calls, eventually you will have the funds to pay off the debt. That strategy does buy you time, but at the expense of interest accruing and of stress. And, unfortunately, eventually the creditor usually gets fed up and [...]

The Evidence Foreclosure Defense

The housing crisis brought it a lot of foreclosure filings. These foreclosure findings revealed and continue to reveal a lot of misconduct and mistakes on the lending side. A lot of the misconduct related to the systemization of the processing and servicing of the loans where the emphasis was on more loans and higher value loans. This emphasis caused many lenders and servicers to overlook important details like reviewing paperwork to ensure its accuracy or completing all the necessary paperwork [...]

Florida Foreclosures : The Good News

This week’s blog will highlight some positive news stories regarding Florida foreclosures and real estate. The Market is Recovering Overall, Florida’s housing market continues on its trends towards recovery. It is still a slow process and some victories are small ones, like Florida no longer holding the largest inventory of homes in the foreclosure process (it was surpassed by New York), there is reason to be optimistic as reports show a consistent movement towards recovery. For example, [...]