Florida Bankruptcy Lawyer Blog

The month of May has changed the way I think about politics. I used to be upset that nothing was being done to help the people living in Southwest Florida, now I am just ticked off. Foreclosure filings were up 48% over May of last year. This statistic proves several things: First nothing is being done on the Federal level to help the people of Southwest Florida keep their homes. Second, nothing is being done on the State level to help residents keep their homes. Third, where are the results that the mortgage companies promised when they argued not to change the bankruptcy laws. Where is Hope Now, President Bush's coalition of mortgage companies dedicated to helping people save their homes.

Continue reading "May 2008 Sees Foreclosures Surge 48%" »

Posted by Carmen Dellutri | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Bankruptcy News , Bankruptcy Statistics , Consumer Protection , Economic Data , Foreclosure Defense , Mortgage Foreclosures

Bookmark:

Bankruptcy Courts are seeing many consumer issues along with the increasing bankruptcy dockets. Therefore, Bankruptcy Judges are naturally becoming more sophisticated on the issues surrounding consumers. Recently I argued a case against a debt collector and one of the issues was the creditors purchasing of discharged debts. Why would a creditor purchase debts which are discharged by a Federal Court Discharge Order? Theoretically, these debts are no longer collectible.

Continue reading "Creditor Claims Trading: What is next?" »

Posted by Carmen Dellutri | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Bankruptcy News , Bankruptcy Statistics , Consumer Protection , Debt Collection Law

Bookmark:

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" »

Posted by Carmen Dellutri | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Bankruptcy News , Bankruptcy Statistics , Consumer Protection , Southwest Florida News

Bookmark:

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?" »

Posted by Carmen Dellutri | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Bankruptcy Myths , Bankruptcy News , Bankruptcy Statistics , Economic Data

Bookmark:

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" »

Posted by Carmen Dellutri | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Bankruptcy Myths , Bankruptcy News , Bankruptcy Statistics

Bookmark:

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" »

Posted by Carmen Dellutri | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Bankruptcy Myths , Bankruptcy News , Bankruptcy Statistics

Bookmark:

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" »

Posted by Carmen Dellutri | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Bankruptcy News , Bankruptcy Statistics , Consumer Protection , Mortgage Foreclosures , Southwest Florida News

Bookmark:

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" »

Posted by Carmen Dellutri | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Bankruptcy News , Bankruptcy Statistics , Southwest Florida News

Bookmark:

United States Bankruptcy Judge John C. Ninfo is taking financial literacy to the next level. As bankruptcy filings rise, Judge Ninfo is teaching students of all ages to live within their means. Although, the Judge has some very strong views about the people that he is seeing in his courtroom, his message is crystal clear to the students.

At the Dellutri Law Group, we encourage the members of our firm to go out into the public, especially schools and trade organizations, to speak with people about what we do and how we do it. In the bankruptcy/consumer world, people always have so many questions. This is also true when we go into classrooms and speak about personal injury cases. The questions are always entertaining and enlightening.

Continue reading "New York Bankruptcy Judge Is Taking Financial Literacy To The Students" »

Posted by Carmen Dellutri | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Bankruptcy News , Bankruptcy Statistics , Consumer Protection , Credit Card Industry , Credit Cards , Economic Data

Bookmark:

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

According to the American Bankruptcy Institute, bankruptcy filings rose again in February 2008. Consumers filed approximately 76,120 petitions for bankruptcy relief. This total was up from the 66,050 filed in January. Interestingly, Chapter 13 bankruptcies were over 36% of the filings.

Continue reading "Bankruptcy Filings Up Again" »

Posted by Carmen Dellutri | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Bankruptcy News , Bankruptcy Statistics , Mortgage Foreclosures , Southwest Florida News

Bookmark:

This post is published by Carmen Dellutri, Esq. of The Dellutri Law Group, P.A. and a founding member of the Bankruptcy Law Network, Debt Law Network, Credit Law Network and Mortgage Law Network.

Unfortunately, Divorce and Bankruptcy go hand in hand in today's society. The problems that are associated with divorce and credit cards are all too familiar to bankruptcy attorneys. Usually, the problems don't arise until one of the parties stops paying on the debts that they agreed to pay in the divorce. Then the collection calls start, and the person who shouldn't be responsible for the debt contacts my office.

Continue reading "Divorce, Joint Credit Cards And Bankruptcy" »

Posted by Carmen Dellutri | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Bankruptcy News , Bankruptcy Statistics , Southwest Florida News

Bookmark:

I just attended a hearing in small claims court for two of my clients. I haven't been in small claims court for a couple of months. However, it appears that the number of small claims court filings are growing exponentially. I spoke with the attorney who is repesenting the creditors as local counsel, and he told me that he is working 7 days a week trying to keep up with the number of lawsuits coming into his office. He said that he has never seen anything like this. He predicted that the volume of lawsuits would continue through 2009. He based this upon the volumes of debt being purchased at substantial discounts. All of this debt will need to be collected in some way, shape or form.

Continue reading "Small Claims Court Are Being Overwhelmed By Collection Lawsuits" »

Posted by Carmen Dellutri | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Bankruptcy News , Bankruptcy Statistics , Southwest Florida News

Bookmark:

This post is written by Carmen Dellutri, Esq. of the Dellutri Law Group, P.A. Carmen Dellutri is a Board Certified Consumer Bankruptcy Attorney with offices in Port Charlotte, Fort Myers and Naples, Florida.

In the month of February2008, consumers across the nation filed over 76,000 bankruptcies. This is a staggering number, and the United States has not seen a number like this since before the BAPCPA. As you will recall, BAPCPA is the name of the new bankruptcy law which is now over 2 years old. The interesting part of this story is that the number of bankruptcy filings was up over 15% from January. That means over 10,000 more cases were filed in February. This may be a sign of things to come in the future.

Continue reading "Consumer Bankruptcy Filings Rise in February" »

Posted by Carmen Dellutri | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Bankruptcy News , Bankruptcy Statistics , Economic Data , Southwest Florida News

Bookmark:

This post is authored by Carmen Dellutri, Esq., Board Certified Consumer Bankruptcy Specialist and a founding member of The Dellutri Law Group, P.A. (www.DellutriLawGroup.com) and a founding member of the Bankruptcy Law Network (www.bankruptcylawnetwork.com)

The United States Attorney has struck again. This time in Cherry Hill, New Jersey. United States District Judge Noel L. Hillman sentenced a car dealer to 4 years in Federal Prison for Bankruptcy Fraud and attempting to hide money from the Tax authorities.

Continue reading "Bankruptcy Crimes: What Does The Future Hold" »

Posted by Carmen Dellutri | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Bankruptcy Crimes , Bankruptcy Myths , Bankruptcy Statistics , Legislative Updates

Bookmark:

This post is published by Carmen Dellutri, Esq. Board Certified Consumer Bankruptcy Attorney.

You may recall that bankruptcy filings surged in 2005 prior to the bankruptcy laws being changed. As expected, 2006 was a relatively slow year in the bankruptcy world when it came to new filings; however, each and every bankruptcy attorney truly committed to his or her practice knew what was going to happen in the future.

Continue reading "Bankruptcy Filings Surged in 2007 And Will Continue in 2008 by Bankruptcy Attorney Carmen Dellutri" »

Posted by Carmen Dellutri | Permalink | Email This Post

Posted In: Bankruptcy Statistics , Foreclosure Defense , Mortgage Foreclosures , Southwest Florida News

Bookmark: