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"Disposable earnings," such as wages, earned by the  head of a family are exempt from creditors in Florida. This exemption includes protection from garnishment.  If a garnishment is filed on exempt earnings, a person may file an affidavit with the court and request an order stopping the garnishment.

"Head of a Family"

This statute protects the wages or disposable earnings of the "head of a family." Courts make the determination of who is the "head of family" based on the totality of the circumstances. Sometimes, the person earning the highest wages is considered the head of the family.

"Earnings"

Florida statutes provides that "earnings" includes compensation for personal services or labor whether denominated as wages, salary, commission, or bonus.

Commissions and bonuses may constitute earnings even if the person is labeled an independent contractor if his activities are essentially a job, he is supervised, and not in the nature of running a business. But commissions have been held not to constitute earnings if the person is free to make his own business decisions and solely responsible for expenses incurred in the operation of his business. A return on an equity investment is not earnings.

Jordan E. Bublick - Miami Bankruptcy Lawyer - Kendall & Aventura Offices - (305) 891-4055 - www.bublicklaw.com

For years companies, including law firms, have been preying on naive homeowners alleging to have the “secret pill” to save their home.  These thieves promise to save the home by “making” the lender work with the homeowner.  In most cases the con artists are in the business for the sole purpose of stealing the homeowner’s hard earned money, or, worse yet, their home.
One by one these unscrupulous parties are being brought to justice.  For example: here is a posting from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the State of Florida: they were “granted a final judgment against the Hoffman Law Group and corporate affiliates accused of using deceptive marketing practices and scamming distressed homeowners into paying illegal advance fees. Working together, five companies tricked consumers into paying millions of dollars in illegal upfront fees to join frivolous lawsuits that the companies falsely claimed would pressure banks to modify their loans or provide foreclosure relief. The court found the corporate defendants liable for $11,730,579 – the full amount of illegal fees paid by consumers – and ordered them to pay a $10 million civil penalty, in addition to penalties to the State of Florida.”
“These companies preyed on vulnerable consumers who were trying to save their homes from foreclosure,” said CFPB Director Richard Cordray. “The false promises made by these companies lured struggling homeowners into scams that led to greater financial hardship. We are working to protect consumers from illegal predatory practices by holding bad actors accountable for their actions.”
Read more…

The post CFPB & FLORIDA AG OBTAIN $27.7 M JUDGMENT AGAINST FORECLOSURE RELIEF SCAM COMPANIES appeared first on Diane L. Drain - Phoenix Bankruptcy & Foreclosure Attorney.

The concept of a Florida "homestead" arises in three different contexts:

1. Taxation exemption per Art. VII, Section 6, Fla. Constit.
2. Forced sale exemption before and at death - per Art. X, Section 4(a)-(b), Fla. Const. and 
3. Restrictions on devise and alienation, Art. X, Section 4(c), Fla. Const.

The definition of "homestead" property for Article VII, section 6 purposes (taxation) is not the same as Article X, section 4 (forced sale and devise and alienation).

Neither the Florida Legislature nor the Florida Constitution provide a definition of what is homestead property for purposes of Art. X, Section 4 (a)(forced sale and devise and alienation). Florida courts generally hold that the following requirements must be satisfied for property to be determined as homestead property:

• the property must be owned by a "natural person"
• the person claiming the exemption must be a Florida resident who establishes that he intends to make the real property his permanent residence
• the person claiming the exemption must establish that he is the owner of the property and 
• the property claimed as the homestead must satisfy the size and contiguity requirements of the constitution. 

The Florida Constitution does not limit the types of estates that are eligible for homestead status. Therefore, the exemption may generally attach to any estate in land whether it is a freehold or lesser estate. A life estate has been found to be among the property interests eligible for homestead status. Florida court have held that real property held in trust can be impressed with the character of homestead, including revocable and irrevocable trusts.Jordan E. Bublick - Miami Bankruptcy Lawyer - Kendall & Aventura Offices - (305) 891-4055 - www.bublicklaw.com

In a big  victory for mortgage lenders and an even bigger loss for Oregonians struggling to carry two mortgages, the U.S. Supreme  Court has just ruled that underwater homeowners can’t get rid of a second mortgage by filing for chapter 7 bankruptcy.
Where a home is worth less than the amount owed on the first mortgage, Oregon debtors can always file Chapter 13 to eliminate a wholly unsecured second mortgage, but Chapter 13 Bankruptcies always involve some form of payment back to creditors, admittedly often as little as $100 a month for a few years before a debtor can get a discharge. Of course for some Oregon homeowners, a $100 per month may as well be five million, as paying anything beyond the first mortgage means not eating.
If you have a second on your home and the property is worth less than the amount of your first mortgage, please contact us so that we can find a way to get rid of your second mortgage in Chapter 13 Bankruptcy

 
The original post is titled Bad News for Oregon Bankruptcy Filers Hoping to Avoid Second Mortgages in Chapter 7 Bankruptcy , and it came from Portland Bankruptcy Attorney | Northwest Debt Relief .