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Miami Personal Bankruptcy Lawyer Jordan E. Bublick has over 25 years of experience in filing Chapter 13 and Chapter 7 bankruptcy cases. His office is centrally located in Miami at 1221 Brickell Avenue, 9th Fl., Miami and may be reached at (305) 891-4055. www.bublicklaw.com
The court in the case of In re Dominique, 368 B.R. 913 (Bankr.S.D.Fla. 2007)(Isicoff, J.) addressed the consequences of the failure of a mortgage servicer to give the required notice of an escrow account deficiency per RESPA, Florida statutes, and the provisions of the mortgage during the pendency of a chapter 13 plan. The court held that the consequence of such failure was the waiver of the escrow account deficiency.
The debtors' confirmed chapter 13 plan provided to cure the mortgagee's pre-petition arrearage and to maintain regular payments. Towards the end of the chapter 13 plan, the mortgagee demanded payment of an approximate $6,000 escrow account shortage. The mortgage required the debtors to maintain an escrow account with the mortgage loan servicer for the payment of an allocable portion of property taxes and insurance premiums. The debtors filed a motion seeking a ruling that the $6,000 escrow shortage would be discharged upon completion of the chapter 13 plan.
The court found that RESPA and its regulation require a mortgage loan servicer to do an annual escrow analysis and to provide the borrower with annual notice of any deficiency if the mortgage requires the borrower to make escrow payments. 12 U.S.C. section 2609(b), 24 C.F.R. 3500.17(c), 3500.17(f). The servicer may require the borrower to pay additional deposits into the escrow account to make up the deficiency but is not required to do so. 24 C.F.R. section 3500.17(c)(1)(ii), 24 C.F.R. section 3500.17(f)(3) and (f)(4).
The court also found that Florida law imposes a time deadline for notice of a deficient escrow account to be within 15 days after the lender receives notice of taxes due of notification of an insurance premium due. Fla. Stat. section 501.137(2). The court noted that RESPA does not generally preempt state law and does not preempt state law for purpose of the notice requirements for escrow account deficiencies. 12 U.S.C. section 2616 and 24 C.F.R. section 3500.13.
The court rejected the mortgagee's argument that it was excused from giving notice of the escrow account deficiency during the years of the plan on the claim that it would be a violation of the automatic stay as the court noted that merely providing notice of an escrow deficiency is not a stay violation. Chase Manhattan Mortgage Corp. v. Padgett, 268 B.R. 309 (S.D.Fla.2001).
The court concluded that the mortgage servicer failed to comply with Federal and Florida law in not providing annual notice of the escrow account deficiencies. The debtors requested that the court order the escrow shortage discharged. The court stated that the resolution of this issue lies in non-bankruptcy law as the escrow shortage arose post-petition. The court found the cases of In re Guevara, 258 B.R. 59 (Bankr.S.D. Fla. 2001), Telfair v. First Union Mortgage Corp., 216 F.3d 1333 (11th Cir. 2000) and Universal American Mtg. Co. v. Bateman (In re Bateman), 331 F.3d 821 (11th Cir.2003) as inapplicable to the resolution of this issue, but adopted the reasoning of the court in Padgett.
In Padgett, the court upheld the bankruptcy court's holding that the lender had waived its rights to recover post-confirmation advances for taxes and insurances as the lender failed to meet its obligations as a mortgage servicer under RESPA and the Florida notice requirement to notify the debtors of the need to increase monthly payments. In applying the Padgett decision to this case, the court held that since the mortgage servicer did not provide the annual notice as required by RESPA and Florida law as well as by the mortgage, that the right to payment was waived. The court stated that the mortgagee thereby failed to meet the conditions precedent to seeking payment and that the failure could not be cured as the involved time periods (annual or 15 day periods) had passed. The mortgage servicer was only entitled to seek the payment of the escrow shortage for the current escrow account computation year.Jordan E. Bublick is a Miami Personal Bankruptcy Lawyer with over 25 years of experience in filing chapter 13 and chapter 7 bankruptcies. Miami Personal Bankruptcy Lawyer Jordan E. Bublick has filed over 8,000 chapter 13 and chapter 7 cases.
If you are filing a Chapter 13 bankruptcy case in Chicago and in the prior year you have had two or more cases dismissed, then you are going to want to impose the Automatic Stay in your current filing. By the fact that you have had two or more bankruptcy cases dismissed within a calendar+ Read MoreThe post Motion To Impose The Automatic Stay In A Chicago Bankruptcy Case appeared first on David M. Siegel.
A woman from Barron, Wis. was recently charged with counts of bankruptcy fraud that include concealing from creditors, transferring property to relatives and making a false declaration in a bankruptcy proceeding. Cynthia Barlow, 55, was recently indicted on charges related to her bankruptcy filing that included concealing close to $19,000 while making a separate payment [...]
For every bankruptcy filing, our office sets up a filing appointment for our clients to come into the office and sit with us as we prepare the Bankruptcy Petition and Schedules, review the final product and sign off on the various dotted lines. For years this has forced an arguably undue burden on many of our clients. If you are married with kids and competing work schedules, it’s often not easy to get both of you into a lawyers office for two hours no matter how much you would like to. Add unreliable, expensive babysitters and long commutes in traffic and getting in can often take a series of missed and reset appointments and frustration for clients and lawyers alike. We think we have come up with a solution.
We can now do a filing appointment remotely. Instead of sitting across a table from one of our attorneys, answering questions and waiting form to be printed out for your signature, you can now see the petition being developed online in the comfort of your own home. All it takes is internet access and a phone line and we can go over everything in greater detail than you ever could in our office. It’s the difference between being answering a series of questions and then being handed a finished product to sign and actually watching every section get produced. The actual appointment isn’t any shorter, but you don’t have to drive anywhere to do it.
If you have any questions at all about Bankruptcy or remote filing appointments, please feel free to give me a call or set up an appointment at one of our Oregon Bankruptcy Law Offices in either Salem or Portland or at one of our Washington Bankruptcy Law Offices in either Seattle or Vancouver.
The original post is titled Prepare Your Bankruptcy Petition Remotely , and it came from Oregon Bankruptcy Lawyer | Portland, Salem, and Vancouver, Wa .
When hiring a bankruptcy attorney it is important to be sure that your attorney is competent to handle any and all unexpected events that may occur in your case. The amount of Continuing Legal Education that your attorney attends is one important factor in determining his competence to handle your case. Before hiring an attorney it is important to ask him what continuing legal education he engages is on how often he does it.
One excellent source of continuing legal education are the events put on by the American Bankruptcy Institute.
Second Chance Legal Services is a bankruptcy law firm located in Madison Heights, MI. While we are located in Oakland County, we service Wayne, Oakland and Macomb County residents. As Detroit Bankruptcy Attorneys we specialize in helping individuals escape their burden of debt in order to get a fresh start on their bright future.
Because of our small size our clients get individual attention. You will have the same bankruptcy attorney throughout your case whether you are in a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy or a Chapter 13 Bankruptcy. Your attorney will help guide you through the bankruptcy process in order to help you get a successful discharge of your debt.
It is important to note that Macomb County Bankruptcy Attorneys, Oakland County Bankruptcy Attorneys and Wayne County Bankruptcy Attorneys all deal with the same judges and trustees. This is because all Michigan Bankruptcies are filed with the federal bankruptcy court in Detroit, MI. For this reason, it is important that you choose an attorney not by location but rather by how comfortable you feel with them when you meet. If you don’t feel comfortable with their knowledge, their experience or their demeanor you should seek out an attorney that you do feel comfortable with.
If you are interested in speaking with a Detroit bankruptcy attorney from Second Chance Legal Services, please contact our office at 248-629-6367 for a free initial consultation.
Can’t everyone do a Chapter 7 or a Chapter 13?The simple answer is no. The eligibility for a Chapter 7 is based on several things:Median Income for Household Size – The median income determines what a Debtor or Debtors can file a bankruptcy. Median income is determined by household size. The following is the median family income data for Missouri and Illinois. Household Size Missouri 1 $41,092 2 $51,784 3 $59,549 4 $72,150 Illinois$47,485$59,861$68,721$80,776 Don’t panic yet. The means test is a complicated beast. The above amounts are the median income. If your income is higher than above amount for your household size does not mean that you cannot file a Chapter 7. It simply means that we now have to complete the extended means test to determine whether you may still be eligible to file a Chapter 7. There are many expenses that can be calculated to determine eligibility. There are IRS Standard deductions for housing and vehicles expenses depending on whether the vehicle(s) have a debt. Other major expenses in the means test are:Taxes – Tax obligations that are paid out of your income
Involuntary deduction – Union dues, Mandatory retirement plans and uniforms
Health, disability or term life insurance
Secured debt payments
Court ordered payments
Childcare
Healthcare
Education for employment or disabled child
Charitable contributionsThe eligibility for a Chapter 7 also depends on eligibility for discharge. A Chapter 7 discharge can only be obtained every 8 years. Therefore, even if your income makes your eligible for a Chapter 7, you may not be able to file a Chapter 7.So then if my income does not allow me to do a Chapter 7 I can do a Chapter 13 right? Not necessarily. While there is not a income limit on Chapter 13’s, there is a debt limit that the Debtor must not exceed in order to be eligible for a Chapter 13 bankruptcy. In a Chapter 13 there are separate debt limits for both secured and unsecured debts. In order to be an eligible Debtor in a Chapter 13, secured debts must not exceed $1,149,525.00. In order to be an eligible Debtor in a Chapter 7, unsecured debts must not exceed $383,175.00. In debts listed on the schedules exceeds these amounts, the trustee can move for dismissal of the bankruptcy. Often times these amounts in excess are foreclosed homes or student loans.
Do I Need to Know All of My Creditors when I meet with an attorney about the bankruptcy for the first time?No. While policies may vary firm to firm, most offices will have you complete some sort of intake sheet upon arrival. This intake sheet will give the attorney some insight into your situation and potential issues in your case. Income information and possible equity issues should be looked at closely upon intake to determine potential issues, creditors amounts and information is not needed for the initial. So what questions is the intake going to ask me?Again, this may vary office by office so keep in mind that this is only what our office asks and another office may ask different information. We ask the following:
- First Name, Middle Initial if applicable, and Last Name
- Address including City, State, Zip Code
- Email address if applicable
- Contact phone numbers including home, cell, work, etc.
- Marital Status: Single, Married, Divorced, Widowed, Separated
- Household Size and ages of any dependents
- Information on any prior bankruptcies including when they were filed and what chapters were filed
- The reason(s) you are considering filing bankruptcy and rough estimates of the amounts owed. Common reasons include:
- Credit Cards
- Medical bills
- Late on house payments with possible foreclosure scheduled
- Late on car payments with possible repossession
- Deficiency on repossessed vehicles or foreclosed homes
- Lawsuits pending
- Garnishments and/or bank levies
- Whether debt is primarily consumer debt or debt from running a business
- Bank taxes owed if applicable
- Recently received or expected tax refunds
- Back child support or any support or maintenance owed if applicable
- Real Estate Information
- If purchasing or own real estate outright:
- Amount owed
- Value of house
- If purchasing or own real estate outright:
- Insider Payments: Whether you have made payments to family members or friends in the past year
- Vehicle information: For each vehicle that has your name on the title(even if you are not the one that drives or pays for the car), we need the year, make, model, estimate of the miles, approximate value of the vehicle, loan amount and whether you intend to keep each vehicle. This includes motorcycles, RV’s, ATV’s, etc.
- Possible Claims you may have against anyone for any reason including personal injury, workers comp, wrongful death, etc.
- Business Information if you own a business: Value of business and its assets, etc.
- Estimate of your gross monthly income from ALL sources of income including food stamps, social security, child support, etc.
Bringing you the most up-to-date news, tips and blogs throughout the web. Here’s your Bankruptcy Update for September 12, 2012 AMR bankruptcy plan wins court approval Lehman Recovery Seen as Justifying $2 Billion Bankruptcy Bankruptcy panel sought for Quebec train disaster victims
After a prison sentence 4 years ago Michael Vick appears to be making an effort to change for the better. Since being released from prison he’s been working on getting his finances back in order, and thanks to bankruptcy he will soon be out of debt while satisfying outstanding amounts with dozens of creditors to [...]
The automatic stay protects debtors from collection activities after a bankruptcy case has been filed. What about a case where there is insurance coverage available on behalf of the debtor? What I am referring to is a case where the debtor was involved in an auto accident, had insurance coverage and then files for bankruptcy+ Read MoreThe post Advanced Practitioner Advice From Chicago Bankruptcy Lawyer David Siegel appeared first on David M. Siegel.
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