Florida Bankruptcy Lawyer Blog

In April I wrote a blog about the airline industry and asked a question: Is the word airline synonymous with bankruptcy? At the time I intended for it to be a bit of a joke because four (4) different airlines had filed bankruptcy. Now, several months later, it could prove to be almost prophetic. Back then, Skybus, ATA, Aloha and Frontier had filed for bankruptcy protection. Delta recently emerged from bankruptcy protection and announced that it was planning a merger with Northwest, and Alitalia was on the brink of bankruptcy. All in all, things weren't looking so good for the airlines.

Continue reading " Airlines Are No Longer Flying High " »

As a Consumer Bankruptcy Attorney, I see people on a daily basis who are considering filing for bankruptcy protection. One of the reasons they are seeking bankruptcy protection is to stop the abusive debt collection practices being employed by the debt collection industry. As this country goes deeper and deeper into a recession, with inflationary prices on gas, food and other commodities, more and more individuals will default on their debts. Recently, I wrote an article for the Credit Law Network about the debt collecter's stock becoming hot on Wall Street. The article made me sick.

Continue reading " Complaints Against Debt Collectors Are Rising " »

Will bankruptcy filings exceed 1 million this year? A look at the current data and the historical data make the case for bankruptcy filings to exceed 1 million. But wait a minute, I thought Congress changed the bankruptcy laws in October 2005 to curtail consumer filings and prevent abuses in the system. I though Congress had fixed the problem. As usual, Congress fixed a problem that didn't need fixing and created several other bigger problems. Our fearless leaders have created an economic nightmare in this country that needs to be fixed, and they are doing nothing to improve the problems. I'm willing to bet that if their homes were going into foreclosure something would be getting done to stem the wave of foreclosures in this country.

Continue reading " How Many Bankruptcies Will Be Filed In 2008? " »

The best way to do this is with a Debit Card tied to your bank account. Naturally, this comes with a bit of responsibility. Debit cards allow you to pay for items by automatically taking money out of your account and sending it to the creditor, so you are not incurring debt at all. Likewise, Visa, Mastercard, Discover, and American Express will not have the ability to charge you interest on the outstanding balance at the end of the month. So, that $5 coffee this morning from Starbucks doesn't wind up costing you $35 in an over the limit fee. This is where I ask my clients to analyze the true cost of things.

Continue reading " Debit Card Do's And Don'ts Part II " »

As a Consumer Bankruptcy Attorney, it seems as if a couple of questions are on everyone's mind. One of those questions is: After bankruptcy, how will I rent a car or secure a hotel room if I cannot keep any of my credit cards? My reply is simple: Use your debit card. People are often shocked that yes, they can use their debit cards for this purpose. Yesterday, my friend and colleague in Connecticut, Eugene Melchionne, wrote a blog for the Credit Law Network, titled "Using Debit Cards and ATM's Effectively". After reading Gene's article, it made me think of several reasons why people using debit cards need to be careful.

Continue reading " Debit Card Do's And Don'ts Part I " »