Many consumers aren’t aware that when they sign up for a service, or buy a product, that they are agreeing that in the event of a dispute that the parties will be referred to arbitration. These clauses often waive the consumer’s right to go to court, present their case before…
We’re looking to hire a full time legal assistant if any of my legal friends know of someone who is looking. Helping people reduce their student loan debt is a very rewarding position for the right person who has great follow through and is a self starter who likes to…
We have a small office to rent in South Tampa – five minutes from downtown. Beautiful Mediterranean building (I had to google to actually spell that – lol!). Looking to rent to a solo attorney for around $450 -$500 depending upon services needed. Full service office with conference room and…
It’s more difficult for a creditor, including the government for federal student loans, to garnish income from someone who is self-employed — but it can be done. Once the creditor is aware that someone is self-employed, they can have a second order entered to go after non-earnings paid to the…
Credit card debt is on the rise – not surprisingly considering that incomes have remained stagnant while daily expenses have increased over the past few years. With inflation on the rise, consumers need to be vigilant about creeping emotional expenses that make a mess of a well planned budget. The…
During the financial crisis, many banks, especially Bank of America, N.A., received credit under the National Mortgage Settlement Act when they wrote off an underwater second mortgage. This was very common in Florida because many 80/20 mortgages were written around 2004-2007 and values crashed in 2008. However, now years later,…
Part II: What can people do when they have private student loan debt? Private loans don’t have any government programs like federal loans do – payments are not based upon income, there is no debt forgiveness and no protections for someone who becomes disabled and cannot work. However, they…
The tax landscape for student loan forgiveness is constantly shifting. Earlier this year we blogged about disability discharges of federal student loan debt no longer considered taxable. Discharges in bankruptcy for either federal loans under a Brunner challenge or non-qualified private student loans that don’t meet the definitions for discharge…
Just now, I got off the phone with a very sophisticated potential client who is facing a garnishment for his federal loans. This was a very intelligent person and well respected in his field, but he didn’t really know much about how the student loan system worked. His closing comment…
Matt Taibbi with Rolling Stone, wrote a recent piece called “The Great College Loan Swindle” that outlines how we got here. It started with sales pitches that colleges make to kids – comparisons of salaries of those with high school diplomas to those with 4 yr degrees. The value of…