Jacksonville Bankruptcy Lawyer Blog

We all believed that debtor's prisons were things of the past but in light of the recent arrest of an Illinois state citizen over a medical bill for $280 dollars, it's apparent that debtor prisons have not yet resigned themselves to the history books.
Lisa Lindsay, like many women in the United States contracted breast cancer. After surviving the ordeal she was sent a bill for $280. Lindsay was told she didn't have to pay the bill as it was sent in error, yet the hospital sold the debt to a collection agency. State troopers then took her from her home in handcuffs by which time she ended up having to pay $600 to settle the charges. I have written on this subject before, but the instances of arrest have increased as debt collectors have gotten more aggressive.
The law in most states allows for the arrest of people for contempt of court. Contempt of court is what gives the court the ability to arrest those who don't pay their child support. What happens in these cases is the collector getting an order for the debtor to perform some action (typically provide payroll records). When the debtor doesn't provide them, they are found in contempt of court and a warrant is issued for their arrest. The problem is that in the cases where people are being arrested the vast majority of the debtor's addresses for notice are incorrect. This leads to people being arrested for not providing documents they didn't know they were ordered to provide. Some states, such as Illinois, are amending their procedures to require that these debtors be served with papers before an order of contempt can be issued. This should minimize arrests for those states, however most of them, including Florida, remain without these protections.
If you are concerned that you may be arrested for non-compliance with a court order, contact a Jacksonville Consumer Debt Attorney or call us at (904) 685-1200 for a free consultation.

These days, debts are bought and sold like stocks. By the time a debt collector files suit against you, they may be the third or fourth agency to hold your debt. Generally, this is a good thing because Debt collectors assume that they will be able to win by default in nearly all of their cases. As a result, these collectors rarely keep proper documentation (or don't even get it in the first place).
Adopted by nearly every state, the Uniform Commercial Code sets forth requirements that must be met by a secured creditor before they can assess a deficiency against a debtor. There are varieties of other provisions that can be used to protect consumers: the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, the Federal Truth in Lending Act, etc. One of the most powerful protections a consumer has is the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure. When one knows how to get evidence and how to present pleadings properly, the strength of a case is greatly amplified.
When a collector files a complaint with the court, they must have the debtor served at their last known address. There are a variety of defenses that can be used: Perhaps the collector hasn't properly shown that they are owed the debt, perhaps the debt amount has been improperly calculated, perhaps the debtor isn't even the right person -the list goes on and on. What is important to keep in mind is that a lack of action on the part of the defense means that they consent to the facts alleged. This is called a default judgment. Default judgments are difficult, though not always impossible to "re-open" and work out properly. It's far easier to defend such a case if counsel is sought prior to a judgment being obtained, preferably before the initial twenty days after service of process has occurred. By getting into a case early, a lawyer will almost invariably have a better chance at defeating the complaint and may be able to get attorneys fees or file a counter-claim for damages (suing the person who is suing you).
If you've been served due to an unpaid debt, whether legitimate or not, the creditor in your case must follow the proper procedures to collect against you. Contact a Jacksonville Consumer Debt Defense Attorney at (904) 685-1200 for a free analysis of your case.

This attorney is getting a lesson on just how annoying having creditors call you can be -and they aren't even my creditors.
Although I've had the same telephone number for over two years, creditors have started to call me looking for a person who I'll refer to as, "Tony Doe". Tony apparently gave his telephone number to multiple creditors long ago and has only recently fallen on hard times. Now I am receiving phone messages from a blocked number asking me to call a collection company with my reference number. They were sure to remind me in the message that, "You are now on notice." Even if I were Tony, I don't think being "on notice" has any legal relevance, though it was declared in a threatening tone. They left me this message despite the fact that my voice mail states that I am Attorney and who I am.
I quickly dialed the number back and was put on hold, when they finally got back to me I gave them the reference number and explained that I was not Tony Doe but could they please give him my phone number when they get a hold of him so that I could help him defend this debt. The creditor then promised that she removed me from their call list, though only time will tell.
If you have creditors calling you and would like them to stop, contact a Jacksonville Bankruptcy Attorney or call us at (904) 685-1200 for a free consultation.

If you want to reaffirm a debt after filing for bankruptcy, your must executed a new agreement with your creditor. This reaffirmation agreement must be written and must be signed by both you and the creditor. Should you sign this reaffirmation agreement? Here are some pros and cons.

Pros
First, if you want to keep the property, you must sign the reaffirmation agreement. Also, if you do sign, you will be certain what your payments will be, what your interest rate is, etc. Signing a reaffirmation agreement may also help rebuild your credit, since you are taking responsibility for a pre-filing debt and are making regular payments on a debt.

If the collateral is something other than a car, say furniture or electronics, then you may be able to negotiate a lesser amount due before signing the agreement. This is because the alternative to reaffirmation for the creditor is to repossess and auction off the property -something that costs the creditor money. Sometimes creditors would rather renegotiate your contract than to go through this hassle.

Cons
By signing the reaffirmation agreement, you are stating that you are now going to be responsible for the debt again. So if you cannot pay in the future and default, you no longer have the remedy or protection of bankruptcy available to you (unless you file again). If you default, a creditor may be able to garnish your wages to cover your debt.

If you have a debt for which you would like to reaffirm, or have any other consumer law issue contact a Jacksonville Bankruptcy Lawyer today for your free consultation.

When someone files for bankruptcy protection they don't expect to have their discharged bills come back to haunt them. Zombie debts are not unheard of, but are rarely seen in the multitude that has been alleged against Capital One by a court-appointed monitor. Some of these debts, including one sought fourteen years after it was discharged, are for thousands of dollars.

Unlike most lenders, Capital One handles most of it's debt collection internally, rather than outsourcing to collection firms. This may be part of their problem as collection firms are usually well versed in the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act.

Out of the 15,500 bogus claims made by Capital One only about 800 of those borrowers filed lawsuits against the creditor. 130 of these cases were settled without Capital One admitting fault. Not all attorneys will file suit against a creditor for attempting to collect a discharged debt, but it's important that debtors know that they can. Without the remedy of suing the creditor, there would be little to no use of the bankruptcy court at all.

If you have debts that have been discharged in bankruptcy, but the creditor is still attempting to collect, contact a Jacksonville Bankruptcy Attorney or call us at (904) 685-1200 for a free consultation.

As is most legal processes, bankruptcy can be a difficult thing to maneuver. There is a lot of misinformation out there, you need to be careful to get your information from a trusted source. Here are some myths regarding bankruptcy:

Myth 1: If I file for bankruptcy, everyone will know.
Like most legal proceedings, most bankruptcy documents are public record. Since I work at a law firm in the bankruptcy department, I search these records all the time. I even have a special username and password that allows me access online. However, how many times do you think your friends, family, or co-workers search through federal court records? The truth is that while your bankruptcy documents will be public information, it is unlikely that those you know would search to find them.

Myth 2: If I file for bankruptcy, I have to give up all my house.
If you are filing a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy, you are often able to keep your house. Obviously, you need to be sure that you can pay your mortgage, or it would be useless to try and keep the house. But if you can afford the payments, then you can reaffirm the debt and retain your house. In a Chapter 13, you can even catch up on mortgage arrearages through your Plan, which may be all the help you need to keep your home.

Myth 3: Chapter 13 Plans require you to pay all of your unsecured debts.
A "means test" is the tool used to figure out if you qualify for a Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy. If you must file a Chapter 13, then a similar test tells you what your disposable monthly income is. This amount must be paid to your unsecured creditors. So, depending upon your situation, you could pay all of your unsecured debt, very little of your unsecured debt, or none at all.

Myth 4: Married couples must file bankruptcy together.
This is not true. You can file a joint petition if you want to save on court costs, but you are not required to. A Jacksonville Bankruptcy Attorney can assess your particular situation and tell you whether it is beneficial for one of you or both of you to file, based on how much debt you have, what kind of debt it is, and in whose name the debt is in. Often times it is more beneficial for one spouse to file.

To discuss any questions you have regarding bankruptcy, creditor harassment or consumer law, contact a Jacksonville Bankruptcy Attorney today at 904-685-1200 for a free consultation.

Upon filing for bankruptcy protection, an automatic stay is put in place. This means that creditors can not try and collect from you. So a creditor cannot call you to request payment, send bills to you, garnish your wages anymore, or repossess your car without court permission. If there is a foreclosure suit against you, that suit must also stop immediately. If your home is sold and you filed prior to the sale, that sale can be vacated. Obviously, this is a powerful tool bankruptcy. Many people file to stop creditors from taking actions against them or their property.

The automatic stay will remain in effect until one of the following things occurs:
1. A creditor petitions the court for relief from automatic stay and the court enters an order granting it;
2. You receive a discharge in your bankruptcy case; or
3. Your case is dismissed.

If you have creditors that you would like to keep at bay by filing for bankruptcy and getting automatic stay protection, contact a Jacksonville Bankruptcy Attorney today for a free consultation to discuss your specific case.

Two bankruptcy petition preparers in Wisconsin are in big trouble with the Court, facing possible criminal charges. Jennifer Abbott, who is a disbarred attorney, was cited with contempt by a bankruptcy judge. The Court said that she has violated bankruptcy Court Orders repeatedly and she refused to obey a subpoena issued by the U.S. Trustee's office. Abbot has also been convicted of felony theft for stealing from a client.

The second bankruptcy petition preparer, Gaynor Morrison, is in trouble for failing to appear in bankruptcy Court when ordered to do so. Also, he was alleged to have been overcharging clients and failed to return fees to clients after being ordered to by the Court.

Bankruptcy petition preparers are non-attorneys who help people file for bankruptcy. Courts and trustees often comment that the petitions or other required documents are flawed when drafted by a bankruptcy petition preparer. If this happens and the case gets dismissed without discharge, people could lose valuable assets or have to pay additional filing fees. Not all bankruptcy petition preparers are unprofessional, but it is best to have a licensed attorney with knowledge of the complexities of the Bankruptcy Code prepare your bankruptcy documents. To contact a Jacksonville Bankruptcy Attorney today, call 904-685-1200.

The U.S. House of Representatives introduced a new bill, the Mobile Informational Call Act of 2011, that would allow businesses to dial consumers' cell phones using an automatic dialing system. This practice is oftentimes called "robo-calling". This means that the operator does not have to manually dial each number. Rather, the computer system can dial the numbers and play a prerecorded message on many phones at once. The current law is that operators have to manually dial the numbers (unless the customer consents to robo-calling), which is not very profitable for many collection agencies.

The down side to this bill would obviously be that creditors would be able to start robo-calling your cellphone. This does not sit well with many consumers. But some creditors say that the current regulations have not kept up with the technology of today, and that a lot of people do not have home phone lines anymore. Creditors are wanting robo-calling access to cell phones.

The upside to the bill, however, is that an airline company could robo-call passengers if a flight was cancelled or is running late. Or your credit card company could set up a system to automatically call you if they think someone is fraudulently using your card. Or your bank could robo-call with a message that someone changed the address or PIN number on your account.

It does not look like the bill will be passed as it is. But the proponents may make some changes and re-introduce the bill. Either way, remember that the FDCPA is still in effect. Creditors cannot harass you. Creditors can only call at certain times during the day. Creditors cannot be abusive. If you have problems with creditors, contact a Jacksonville Bankruptcy Attorney today.

When filing for bankruptcy, it is very important to be very honest and disclose everything. If you do not, you risk having your bankruptcy denied, discharge revoked or even prison time in the worst case scenario. When you sign your bankruptcy documents, you are doing so swearing that they are true under penalty of perjury. If the trustee finds out that something you have in your schedules is incomplete or untrue, this will raise a red flag and the trustee will scrutinize your bankruptcy schedules even more.

A common way that people fail to disclose everything in bankruptcy is trying to hide assets. Debtors might leave off a gold watch or a private bank account. This is a big mistake. When filing for bankruptcy, you must list all of your assets. Even if you think an asset is inconsequential or minute, you should list it. It is better to have overkill than to raise a red flag.

Another thing debtors sometimes fail to list is creditors that happen to be friends or relatives. Or maybe the debtor does not want a specific creditor to know that they have filed for bankruptcy, so they do not want to list that creditor. You should not do this. You need to list all creditors to whom you currently owe any kind of debt on your bankruptcy papers. The trustee wants to make sure that all of your creditors get their fair share of your estate. No matter your intentions, make sure to list every creditor. If you do not and the trustee finds out, this will raise a red flag.

If you fail to disclose everything on your bankruptcy schedules, you will most likely be sorry in the long run. However, the trustee may be understanding if you make an honest mistake. If you accidentally leave something off your schedules, correct the mistake by filing an amendment as soon as you realize the mistake.

To learn more about bankruptcy and to schedule a free consultation, contact a Jacksonville Bankruptcy Attorney today at 904-685-1200.

Jeffrey Summers, of Taft, California, and Stafan Miller, of Santa Clara, California, perpetrated a scam upon multiple creditors. They formed Maxwell, Turner & Associates, a collection services company who employed around 20 people. From February 2009 until May 2010, their company did not deliver on their promises to clients. Summer and Miller would provide false information about legal proceedings and tell their creditor clients wrong contact information for debtors. Also, if the company did collect any money from debtors, it would not pass this money along to the appropriate creditor. Instead, the two would pocket the money. The scheme took in more than $2.7 million.

Summers was convicted for conspiracy to commit mail fraud and sentenced to 8 years in federal prison. Miller was ordered to serve 6 years and 9 months for conspiracy to commit mail fraud and money laundering. The two have also been ordered to repay $1,311,700 in restitution to the victims of their fraudulent scheme.

If you feel that you have been defrauded in any financial situation, you should speak with a Jacksonville Consumer Law Attorney to see if a remedy this available for you.

Filing for bankruptcy can be very confusing for those trying to go it alone. As an in-depth legal process, it is greatly beneficial to have a Jacksonville Bankruptcy Attorney to help you navigate your way through a successful bankruptcy. Here are some reasons why:

1. There are many calculations that must be done correctly. To file for bankruptcy, you must first know which Chapter you qualify for, a Chapter 7, 13, 11 or 12. One step to figuring it out is by completing a Means Test. This is complex thing to do. You must know things which deductions you can use for food, clothing, personal care, health care, housing, and many more. You'll need to how the allowances for vehicles work and what involuntary deductions you can take. You must know how to list future debt payments correctly. And the list goes on and on. Without the proper knowledge and skill, this can be very difficult to do right the first time. If you do not do this correctly, the court could dismiss your case without a discharge, penalize you with fines or in rare cases, even send you to jail. Hiring a Jacksonville Bankruptcy Attorney would be beneficial because someone with knowledge and experience would be handling these issues, taking the stress off of you.

2. Another daunting task is drafting a Chapter 13 Plan. This Plan is very important, as it outlines your responsibilities over a three to five year period. You must know which creditors get paid, how much is required to go to unsecured creditors, and how to allocate the Trustee's portion. You want to make sure that you get all the benefits you can through your Plan. It is not the job of the Court or Trustee to watch out for your interest, it is there job to be sure that the code is being applied properly.

3. A Jacksonville Bankruptcy Attorney can negotiate with creditors for you, if need be. We can dispute claims on your behalf or negotiate lesser amounts owed. If you hire us, then you will not have to deal with creditors on your own. Once creditors know that you are represented with regard to their debt, then they cannot contact you anymore. This can be a relief, especially if the creditors are calling multiple times per day or you have multiple creditors calling.

4. Time can be saved by hiring counsel. While it may only take an attorney a short time to fill out a document correctly, it might take you hours. An attorney is trained to know how to fill out the paperwork quickly and efficiently. Since you do not do this everyday, it will likely take you much longer.

These are just a few reasons to hire a Jacksonville Bankruptcy Attorney to file your bankruptcy. There are many more. Contact us today at 904-685-1200 to set up a free consultation.

Is your credit card company driving you crazy? Think they are trying to rip you off or aren't taking your complaints seriously? The Dodd-Frank Act created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), an agency to whom you can voice concerns regarding your credit card companies. Since their opening in July 2011, the office has fielded more than 5,000 consumer complaints. Some of the most common complaints dealt with collection practices, debt protection services, account closures, identification theft, fraud, and fees.

After a complaint is filed, the CFPB acts as a go-between in order to resolve the issue between you and your credit card company. So far, approximately three quarters of the complaints have been either partially or fully resolved by the credit card company. The rest are either still under review or there was no relief found.

Consumers can submit their complaints either online with Consumer Finance's Government Site or by calling 855-411-CFPB (855-411-2372). In the near future, CFPB will be fielding complaints for all kinds of consumer financial products, including mortgages and other loans.

If are having some of these issues with a credit card company or any other financial company, don't hesitate to contact a Jacksonville Consumer Law Attorney at 904-685-1200 to discuss your options.

AMR, the parent company of American Airlines, announced November 29, 2011 that they filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the Southern District of New York. The company said that in the first nine months of 2011, they lost $868 million and project that they will lose around $1.1 billion by years end. AMR, a Fort-Worth based company, listed $24.7 billion in assets and $29.6 billion in debt in their bankruptcy Schedules.

An article in the Financial Times says "the move brings to end a nearly decade-long effort to avoid Chapter 11. In 2003, American chose to avoid bankruptcy, while its rivals used the process to shed their pension plans and reduce structural costs, leaving it at a substantial disadvantage."

The company's CEO, Gerard Arpey, was not in favor of the company filing for bankruptcy. In fact, he had spoken out several times saying that he did not want AMR to file for bankruptcy. So he retired. Tom Horton, previously the company's president, will now step in as the new CEO.

For now, American Airlines says that they will continue normal business operations. Flights will go on as scheduled, and tickets will be honored as usual. Employees, their paychecks and benefits will also not be affected, at least not right away.

Contact a Jacksonville Bankruptcy Attorney if you have any questions about bankruptcy at (904) 685-1200 for a free consultation.

Imagine that you're a single woman who has some unpaid debt but like everyone else you're just trying to live your life and get by. Perhaps one lonely evening you create a personals ad on an online dating service. Soon you are happy to get a response from a young man who asks you to meet him. You prepare for the date, show up on time and he shows up too. You order drinks, then food and then he declares that he is in fact a debt collector for the company you owe. He tells you that you need to pay your debts, gets up and leaves.

Does this sound impossible? Well it isn't. In fact, someone seeking help with creditor harassment described a very similar situation to me just yesterday. This behavior comes out of left field for creditors as it requires more time and resources than we'd expect from a creditor. It also appears to violate the Fair Debt Collect Practices Act (FDCPA) as creditors cannot use deceptive means in an attempt to collect or enforce a debt.

If you think that a creditor is doing something unethical in an attempt to collect a debt, it may be illegal. Contact a Jacksonville Bankruptcy Lawyer or call us at (904) 685-1200 for a free consultation.