Florida Bankruptcy Lawyer Blog

This is part two of the story:

Recession is not part of the business plan and there are not enough cash reserves to cover the lines of credit and make all of the lease payments, so the business owner thinks about bankruptcy for the business. In reality, there is no reason to file a bankruptcy for the business because the business doesn't own anything. The business has the right to use the leased equipment but it does not own the equipment or the premises. The business has an obligation to pay for the equipment and the premise, but if the business closes down and there is no money left in the bank account, how is that going to happen? Usually, when this happens, and it happens quite often, the creditors will begin to look for the individual who personally guaranteed the loan.

Continue reading " What Is A Business Bankruptcy? Part II " »

As a Board Certified Consumer Bankruptcy Attorney, I see people on a daily basis who are facing financial problems. Bankruptcy has taken on a whole new life recently as were are in the midst of a serious recession that is only getting worse. Bankruptcy is now on the minds of people who never thought they would find themselves in financial difficulty. More and more small business owners are finding it hard to make ends meet. Many of these small businesses relied on one industry or another that has dried up in Southwest Florida. These business owners believe that the solution to their financial problems is to bankrupt the business and put it behind them. However, many do not know that filing bankruptcy for a small business may not be a very good idea at all.

Continue reading " What Is A Business Bankruptcy? Part I " »

As a consumer bankruptcy attorney in Southwest Florida, I hear about financial news as it happens. This is particularly true when it comes to creditors hitting hard times. Many of my clients keep me updated with creditor information like TIB Financial Corp. TIB bank and its affiliates finance cars and real estate. Their 2008 first quarter loss was $1.44 million dollars. This information alone is not so bad; however, when you combine it with the losses from the fourth quarter of 2007 of $6.49 million, then you start to see a problem. In the last 6 months, TIB Financial Corp. has lost almost $8 million.

Continue reading " TIB Financial Corp Showing Losses " »

The topic of bankruptcy is usually not discussed by office workers around the water cooler. Nor is bankruptcy discussed at cocktail parties. I can honestly state that no-one has ever said to me, "I have the best bankruptcy attorney in the world", or, "Have you considered speaking with a bankruptcy attorney about that financial decision". Quite frankly, bankruptcy has always been that other b-word, unless you are an airline. We all know that four major airlines have filed for bankruptcy protection over the last few weeks: Skybus ATA, Aloha, and Frontier. Additionally, we all know that Delta recently emerged from bankruptcy protection, and that they lost $6.39 billion in the first quarter of 2008 (accounting write off) or $274 million, whichever you prefer. So, the question is: Is Airline synonymous with Bankruptcy? At this point the jury is still out.

This post was written by Carmen Dellutri, Esq. of The Dellutri Law Group, P.A. Mr. Dellutri is a Board Certified Consumer Bankruptcy Attorney, and he is also one of the founding members of the Bankruptcy Law Network, Mortgage Law Network, Debt Law Network and Credit Law Network.

Recently, an article was published by John Leland in the New York Times, American Album series about a local gentleman named B. Keith Councell, a fourth generation bee keeper. I applaud the writer, Mr. Leland, who submitted an excellent article on Mr. Councell, and his calling as the Southwest Florida Bee-man; however, there is also a subliminal message that is very troubling for those of us who live in Southwest Florida. The subliminal message is very simple, foreclosures are a huge problem for our community and that problem has to be dealt with now.

Continue reading " Are Bees Capitalizing On The Foreclosure Market? " »

As a Board Certified Consumer Bankruptcy Attorney, I am seeing bankruptcy clients each and every day who are surrendering their homes in the bankruptcy process. Some individuals are choosing not to file bankruptcy and are deciding to leave their homes. Right now, Southwest Florida is experiencing one of the highest foreclosure rates in the country. People are literally walking away from their homes each and every day. Port Charlotte, Cape Coral and Lehigh are experiencing higher rates of foreclosure than other areas of Florida. Each day I speak with the people who are suffering through this problem, and they all tell me the same thing. I am going to mail the keys to my mortgage company or servicer.

Continue reading " What is Jingle Mail? " »

It seems that you cannot go anywhere today without hearing someone speaking about what is going on with the foreclosures in Southwest Florida. It's in the newspapers and on the minds of many people living in Southwest Florida. Most people in Southwest Florida will fall into one of three categories: First, there are the rich that will never have to worry about the foreclosure crisis, so we will leave them out of this. We will talk about them later when the stock market takes a dive, and then we can say, we told you so, but you were too busy attending wine auctions that you missed all of the economic indicators predicting a recession. Second, you have the middle class, which is our largest group. Many of these individuals are homeowners with mortgages on their primary residences, and they are feeling the pinch of the recession as their home values plummet. These are the people who have either lost their homes already, live in fear of losing their homes, or are renting somewhere else in an attempt to save their homes.

Continue reading " Foreclosures In Southwest Florida: It's A Community Problem " »

Bankruptcy Filing Across the Nation achieved a milestone since the inception of BAPCPA (Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act) in October 2005. March filings were in excess of 90,000, and based upon a 21 working days in March, bankruptcy filings reached 4,300 per day.

Continue reading " Bankruptcy Filings Exceed 4000 A Day In March " »

Why do companies, especially credit cards, market to individuals in Bankruptcy? The simple answer is that individuals who file for bankruptcy (7) are prohibited from receiving another discharge for 8 years. But, is that really the answer? Are these companies afraid that the individual will file bankruptcy again? I don't think so. The credit card companies like Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover know that individuals will have a tough time changing their spending habits, and therefore, why not try to lure these individuals back into the charge and pay lifestyles that they may have once led. Kind of like a dope dealer pedaling dope to someone recently out of rehab.

Continue reading " Why Do Companies Market to Individuals in Bankruptcy? " »

Yesterday, Florida Senator, Mel Martinez, addressed the Florida Legislature about several issues including the mortgage crisis. Senator Martinez stated in his newsletter that the problems Floridians face, like the environment and finances, are compounded by the national economy and the housing crisis. He made reference in the newsletter to initiative that are being implemented at the Federal Level to help the economy and the mortgage crisis. That's it. That's all it states in the newsletter. No kidding. What kind of message is that?

Continue reading " Senator Martinez Addresses The Florida Legislature About Foreclosure Problem " »