Florida Bankruptcy Lawyer Blog

Recently, I wrote a blog for the Mortgage Law Network titled: More Homeowners are Underwater on Their Mortgages. The reason I wrote the blog was because of the alarming numbers of homeowners whose homes are underwater. The term underwater means that the home is not worth what is owed on the debt. In Southwest Florida, the number of homes underwater is alarmingly higher than the national average.

Continue reading " How Many Southwest Florida Resident's Homes Are Underwater? " »

As a Board Certified Consumer Bankruptcy Attorney there is usually not much to get excited about in day to day practice. Bankruptcy filings are up because the economy is in the toilet and property values are falling faster than John McCain's popularity. We still don't know what Senator Obama will do if elected because he won't answer any questions directly. The Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, U.S. Treasury, Henry Paulson, FDIC, Sheila Bair, White House, Senate, House of Representatives and the President are making plans to spend enough money that could fill the Grand Canyon.

So, it comes as no surprise that the Third Anniversary of the Bankruptcy Code re-write will come and go without much excitement. For three years, practitioners have been muddling their way through the new code trying to make sense of it all, and it has not been easy.

Continue reading " Third Anniversary of BAPCPA " »

This morning I finished a blog for the Bankruptcy Law Network about rising bankruptcy rates. I wanted to go a bit further on the subject here. There are two different theories that have been floating around since I started that blog a couple of days ago. The first line of thought poses the question this way: if Bernanke and the Fed, Paulson and the Treasury, and Bush and the White House decide to nationalize the banking system, why will people need to file for bankruptcy? The second line of thought is: Bernanke and the Fed, Paulson and the Treasury, and Bush and the White House will not nationalize banks, but the taxpayers will own equity stakes in them, thereby increasing liquidity, and keeping the free markets open, which will cause more people to file for bankruptcy. There will be more to this story after the President speaks in a few minutes.

Continue reading " Will More Bankruptcies Be Coming in 2009? " »

Yesterday, Democratic Presidential Candidate, Senator Barack Obama called for a ninety (90) day moratorium on foreclosures. In my opinion, this is simply more rhetoric from a candidate fishing for votes. He is playing to the media, so they will report to Main Street. Don't get me wrong, I'm not an Obama hater, I just don't like being played by anyone. If you say you are going to do something, then you better be able to do it, or give it one hell of a shot. Don't just say things for the sake of saying them. That ticks me off, and between Senator Obama and Senator McCain, I've been ticked off quite a bit lately.

Continue reading " Senator Obama Calls For Foreclosure Moratorium " »

S. 3197 The National Guard and Reservists Debt Relief Act is on the way to the White House for the President's signature which will make it a law. The House of Representatives and the Senate both approved the bill unanimously. Once the President signs this bill, and it becomes law, it will amend the Bankruptcy Code.

Continue reading " National Guard and Reservist Debt Relief Act Passes Congress " »

While we slept last night, some pretty interesting things were going on overseas. All one has to do is go to CNN.com or Foxnews.com and see that overseas markets tanked last night, and in response, the Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben Bernanke, cut the key interest rate down to 1.5% from 2%. The Fed had not cut the rate since June of 2008.

Continue reading " The Federal Reserve Cuts Interest Rate One Half Point " »

Recently, I wrote a blog entitled What is LIBOR? for Mortgage Law Network. It would be a good time to review that article now because LIBOR is going through the roof. Simply put, LIBOR is the London interbank offered rate. What? Good Question. It is the average rate that banks in and around London lend money to one another. Another Good Questions is: Why are we talking about LIBOR?

Continue reading " LIBOR Rises 157 Basis Points To 3.94 percent " »

Believe it or not, I am an optimist. I just cannot find anything optimistic to say about the stock market right now except, Thank God for Dollar Cost Averaging. In the last 15 months, we have managed to take the country further down the toilet than ever before. I say we, because we all must suffer some blame in this game. We voted these meat-heads into office, and we allowed them to create laws on our behalf and run our country. We also allowed them to put our country's future at risk by allowing Wall Street to run amok. Now we are beginning to pay the piper for being lazy. Our 401K plans have been on Nutri-System lately, and now they look like 201K plans.

Continue reading " $2 Trillion Dollars Loss In Retirement Funds " »

The numbers are coming in for September car sales, and the numbers don't look good at all. Interestingly, the imports didn't do so good, and they usually keep ahead of the curve when it comes to slumping sales. Toyota sales fell 32.3%, Honda slumped 24% and Nissan plummeted 37%. In the domestic category; Ford fell 34%, Chrysler 33% and General Motors fell 15.8%. GM was aggressively marketing its vehicles and it paid off for them, but the industry as a whole is not looking good. This is a sign of things to come.

Continue reading " September Car Sales Plummet 27% " »