Consumer debtors routinely have various related difficulties with mortgages following the filing of a Chapter 7 bankruptcy. Unfortunately, the first thought is that the bankruptcy attorney messed up when that really is not the case. They think the attorney put the home into the bankruptcy when it was meant to be…
Yesterday I was back for a full day after being sick with the flu for a few days. The day was surprisingly productive. Many people have asked me what we can do for people with student loans. This question is often combined with a statement that they thought nothing could…
Tax Relief for Certain Students Whose Education Loans Were Discharged: The IRS has announced that taxpayers, who took out Federal student loans to finance attendance at schools owned by Corinthian Colleges, Inc., and whose loans were discharged under the Department of Education’s Defense to Repayment or Closed School discharge processes,…
Our Tampa Bay area clients are still in good shape under the recent court and FCC rulings under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). Oral revocation is alive and well in Florida (although it’s always good to follow up in writing that you’ve asked a debt collector to stop calling…
Unfortunately, student loan borrowers in default on federal loans are experiencing tax intercepts around this time of year, sometimes for the first time ever. Some tips: 1) if we can cure the default before your taxes are filed and the intercept occurs, we can stop it from ever happening; 2)…
Communications with a homeowner when a debt collector is aware that the homeowner is represented by counsel is a violation of the FDCPA. 15 U.S.C. 1692c(a)(2). This includes any mortgage servicer who has acquired a defaulted mortgage loan. It is also a violation of our Florida Consumer Collection Practices Act…
While not a Florida case, the Fourth Circuit ruled today that the arbitration provision of Western Sky Payday Loans is unenforceable. This may be a sign of expanding consumer protections in the future, although it is very early to tell. Mandatory arbitration clauses force a consumer to give up their…
Last week on January 20, 2016, in Campbell-Ewald Co. v. Gomez, ___ U.S. ___, 2016 WL 22835 (Jan. 20, 2016), the Supreme Court issued several important rulings in a TCPA class action. These rulings will help consumers in cases where they are receiving unwanted text messages; being contacted by various…
The FTC guidelines state that credit reports can include debts discharged in bankruptcy so long as they’re reported as discharged with a zero balance. 16 C.F.R. 600 app. § 607(b)(6). See also Schueller 559 Fed.Appx. at 737; Horsch, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 37476, 2015 WL 1344836, at *10. The only…
We are still doing loan mods for our clients – three alone this week – one in a Chapter 13 bankruptcy and two outside of bankruptcy. One has the docs to sign, another was presented with options including a principal reduction, and the other should be finished with underwriting and…