Recently, I wrote about the amount of Adversary Proceedings that the firm was able to resolve in the month of December 2008. The best news is that two of our clients received double their attorney's fees back. In other words, clients were not only able to get a free bankruptcy, but they also made money on their bankruptcy case. Here is how it happened.
Continue reading " Adversary Proceedings Pay For Your Bankruptcy Fees " »
There is currently legislation in both houses of Congress (S.3690 and H.R. 7328) that would amend the Bankruptcy Code to allow Bankruptcy Judges to modify first mortgages on homestead real estate. Under current law, Bankruptcy Judges are not allowed to modify first mortgages on homestead real estate; however, they are allowed to modify first mortgages on vacation homes or investment properties. Hmmmm.
The legislation was introduced in the Senate by Senator Dick Durbin and in the House by Representative Brad Miller. The intention is to have a piece of legislation ready to go after the inauguration of President Barack Obama. The new Congress will convene on January 6, 2009, and will likely be ready to present a bill to the new President sometime shortly after that.
Continue reading " New Legislation Seeks Mortgage Modifications In Bankruptcy Court " »
December was a great month to settle Adversary Proceedings, and Our Clients are glad that it was. Attorneys, David Fineman, David Lampley, and Carmen Dellutri were able to settle a record number of adversary proceedings and put more money back into our client's pockets than any other month in the history of the firm.
Continue reading " December Was A Great Month For Adversary Proceedings " »
Score one for the Consumer. The Texas Attorney General agreed to settle unfair debt collection claims against NCO Group, Inc. and/or NCO Portfolio Management, the company's debt buying unit in the amount of $250,000.00. The Texas Attorney General alleged that NCO violated the Texas Debt Collection Act by making harassing phone calls and using profanity to scare and harass debtors. A quick Google Search for NCO will reveal some very interesting things about the company.
Texas law prohibits consumer debt collectors from using unlawful threats and/or coercion in an attempt to collect consumer debts. Interestingly, as part of the settlement, NCO admitted no wrongdoing. Yea right.
Continue reading " NCO Group, Inc. Agrees To Pay A Fine Of $250,000 for Illegal Debt Collection " »
As a consumer bankruptcy attorney in Southwest Florida, I like to see how our bankruptcy economy compares to the rest of the United States. The consumer bankruptcy filing statistics are out for November 2008, and these bankruptcy statistics do not look good. When you look at how many consumer bankruptcy cases were filed in November 2007, the numbers have gone up 39.2% in just a year. The only good news is that the number of consumer cases filed dropped from October 2008 when there were over 106,000 cases filed. So far in 2008, over 980,000 consumer bankruptcy cases were filed. This puts us on a track to file well over 1 million consumer bankruptcy cases this year.
Just three (3) short years ago, Congress sent the President a piece of legislation that was supposed to prevent fraud in the Bankruptcy Courts and reduce the number of individual consumer bankruptcies. Unfortunately, like so many other things that our Government does (Can you say Bailout packages), the legislation was woefully inadequate to the point that it never should have been passed. Now, people who really need bankruptcy relief are dealing with a ridiculous statute that creates a dog and pony show in my opinion. The only way that I can see the United States moving is in a downward spiral. We will see many more consumer bankruptcy cases in the years to come.
Continue reading " November Bankruptcy Filings Up 39% " »
Florida Bar Member, Laura Hess, Esq., has been permanently banned from helping consumers solve their debt problems. The Florida Bar website lists Ms. Hess as Not Eligible to practice in Florida. It appears that Ms. Hess has entered into a consent agreement with the Florida Attorney General's office over allegations that Ms. Hess and the Hess Kennedy Law Firm stole millions of dollars from its clients. The money was allegedly paid to the firm for debt consolidation. Although details are scarce on this one, it appears that some of the creditors are forgiving the debts of clients of the firm. Capital One appears to be stepping up to the plate to forgive the debts of these consumers.
Continue reading " Florida Lawyer Barred From Collecting Debts " »
