Permissive Use of Negative Notice in Northern District

The “Permissive Use of Negative Notice” list will be 

updated to include additional items as needed. 

   http://www.flnb.uscourts.gov/sites/default/files/filing_requirements/negative_notice.pdf

US Bank taking Bribes

http://www.sigtarp.gov/Press%20Releases/Tate_Charge_Press_Release.pdf

Wilbur Tate III, a former collections manager at U.S. Bank, was charged with taking bribes from Oxford Collections Agency, announced the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program. Senior executives at Oxford Collections Agency have pleaded guilty in a $10 million fraud scheme that defrauded investors and clients, including Webster Bank and other TARP recipients.

Unemployment Increases

The unemployment rate moved up to 7.9 percent from 7.8 percent a month earlier. Economists had forecast payrolls would grow by 160,000, and that the unemployment rate would remain at 7.8 percent.

Foreclosures Down

RealtyTrac reported that foreclosure activity declined in January as the number of U.S. homes starting the process fell to its lowest level in more than six years.
Foreclosure starts were filed on 64,773 homes, down 11 percent from December and down 28 percent from a year ago. It was the lowest level since June 2006.
http://www.uscourts.gov/Statistics/BankruptcyStatistics.aspx

New bankruptcy Forms

Form 6 I

Form 6 J

Form 22 A 1

Form 22A 2 MT calc

Form 22C-1

Form 22C-2

You can submit your comments by email to Rules_Comments@ao.uscourts.gov or by snail mail

Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure
Administrative Office of the United States Courts
One Columbus Circle, NE
Washington, D.C. 20544

Chapter 7 Special $600 plus Filing Fee

Good through February 28th, 2013 act now mention blog post

Credit Counseling

DebtorWise  $25 for pre-filing Credit Counseling and $15 for post-filing Debtor Education courses for single filers.  Telephonic courses are  $34.95 for pre-filing Credit Counseling and  $24.95 for post-filing Debtor Education.

Casey Anthony Files Bankruptcy.

In Anthony’s bankruptcy petition, she reports less than $1,100 in assets and approximately $792,000 in liabilities.  Her largest liability is $500,000 in attorney fees and costs for her criminal defense. 

Other debts include $145,600 for the Orange County Sheriff’s Office (judgment for investigative fees and costs related to the case), $68,540 for the Internal Revenue Service for taxes, interest and penalties, and $61,505 for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for Court costs.

To view Casey Anthony’s bankruptcy petition, click here.

Revised Bankruptcy Forms

Revamped Consumer Bankruptcy Forms Out for Public Comment
The Judicial Conference Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure is asking for comment on the first proposed modernization of bankruptcy forms in two decades. The revised forms, published for comment, are all used by individual debtors and include the fee waiver and installment fee forms, income and expense forms, and the means test forms, replacing previous forms. The comments, submitted by the public, will be reviewed over the coming months and will be used to fine-tune the forms. The deadline for submitting comments is Feb. 15
Click here to review the revised forms.

Unlocking Your Phone is Now a Crime

If you live in the United States, starting Jan. 25, 2013, it is illegal to unlock your iPhone, or other cellphone, in most cases.

Unlocking
When people want to change phone companies without having to buy a new iPhone, many people "unlock" their iPhones. Unlocking refers to using software to modify the phone so it works with more than one phone carrier. Some phone companies will unlock phones under certain conditions, others are a bit less welcoming of this (after all, if you're locked to their network, the likelihood is that you'll stay their customer). As a result, some people unlock their phones on their own or pay other (non-phone) companies to do it for them.



Thanks to the new ruling by the U.S. Library of Congress, though, this is no longer legal.

The Ruling
The Library of Congress has authority over the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), a 1998 law designed to govern copyright issues in the digital age. Thanks to this authority, the Library of Congress provides exceptions to and interpretations of the law.
In Oct. 2012, the Library of Congress ruled on how the DMCA affects unlocking all cellphones, including the iPhone. That ruling, which starts on page 16 of the linked PDF, went into effect on Jan. 25, 2013. It says that, because there are a number of phones that users can buy unlocked right out of the box (instead of having to unlock them with software), unlocking cellphones is now a violation of the DMCA and is illegal.

Weidner Oral Argument 2nd DCA

AHMSI V. HASSELL

http://mattweidnerlaw.com/blog/2012/11/bombshell-stuff-video-playback-of-oral-arguments-before-the-second-district-court-ahmsi-v-hassell/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=bombshell-stuff-video-playback-of-oral-arguments-before-the-second-district-court-ahmsi-v-hassell

Preparing for your Bankruptcy

Get your free credit report at www.AnnualCreditReport.com

Cheap Credit Counseling- Pre-Filing Course. Consumer Bankruptcy Counseling is now available for $5 from the website: http://www.consumerbankruptcycounseling.info/  or

The Justice Department also provides a list of approved counseling agencies at http://www.justice.gov/ust/eo/bapcpa/ccde/cc_approved.htm

This seasons hottest shoe

Sent from my iPhone

Case Law Update

Drummond v. Welsh (In re Welsh), Means test allows debtor to deduct from current monthly income payments on secured debts; debtor need not take into account Social Security income to satisfy § 1325.

Deutsche Bank National Trust Company v. Clarke

January 2012

The trial court entered a directed verdict in favor of the defendant, finding that the Plaintiff's failure to enter the original note and mortgage at trial was fatally defective to its case. During the course of the trial, the court inquired as to the location of the originals. "The original note had been filed with the clerk of the court and was in the court file in preparation for an earlier scheduled summary judgment hearing." The trial court stated it would accept the use of copies after being advised of the originals whereabouts. There was no objection to the use of the copies pursuant to the best evidence rule. Fla. Stat. § 90.953 (2010). The court reserved ruling and did not enter its order until the trial was concluded.

In overturning the trial court's order, the Fourth DCA not only made an evidentiary ruling, it also harmonized a series of cases addressing the need to tender the original documents to the trial court in foreclosure proceedings. Through its opinion, the Fourth DCA has held the tender of the documents to the court at any time during the foreclosure action should be sufficient.

McNeal v. GMAC Mortgage, LLC, Homecomings Financial, LLC

March 11,2012

The holding in McNeal v. GMAC Mortg., LLC (In re McNeal), 2012 U.S. App. LEXIS 9589 (11th Cir May 11, 2012) is based on the concept that Dewsnup - which involved an attempt to cramdown a partially secured mortgage - did not overrule, explicitly, the Folendore decision. Accordingly, it remains good law, and a three judge panel cannot overrule an earlier three judge panel. The undercutting of the Folendore reasoning by the Supreme Court was not sufficient to allow lower courts to disregard binding precedent of the earlier 11th Circuit decision.

At present, stripping mortgages in Chapter 7 is permitted in the 11th Circuit.

Castillo v Deutsche, June 6, 2012

The Florida Third District Court of Appeals ruled on an issue that relates to borrower claims that an investor must establish compliance with its obligations under a Securitized Trust Agreement as a condition of enforcing a note and mortgage held by the trust. The Court ruled that the borrower does not have standing. This ruling is subject to a motion for rehearing and is not final but confident it will stand. 

In the News

Virginia Ruling Holds that Mortgage Lenders Must Hold Face-to-Face Meetings Before Foreclosure in FHA/HUD Loans

http://dc.citybizlist.com/5/2012/6/7/Virginia-Ruling-Holds-that-Mortgage-Lenders-Must-Hold-FacetoFace-Meetings-Before-Foreclosure-in-FHAHUD-Loans.aspx

HUD Regulation 4155.1 4.C.2.f, which governs FHA mortgages, addresses this common scenario. This regulation states that the contingent liability of the ex-spouse for the future payments due on the mortgage on the home now owned by the other spouse is not be counted if the loan was foreclosed. The regulation reads as follows:
A borrower is generally not eligible for a new FHA-insured mortgage if, during the previous three years his/her previous principal residence or other real property was foreclosed, or he/she gave a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure.
Exception: The lender may grant an exception to the three-year requirement if the foreclosure was the result of documented extenuating circumstances that were beyond the control of the borrower, such as a serious illness or death of a wage earner, and the borrower has re-established good credit since the foreclosure.

Recent changes to the HARP Program removed the maximum percentage amount that a property can have an underwater mortgage. Prior to December 1, 2011, the maximum amount that a property could be underwater was 125% of the loan balance.

This means that if a property is valued at $100,000, the maximum that the mortgage being refinanced would be $125,000 or 125% of $100,000. This would also be referred to as 125% LTV or loan-to-value.

HarpMortgageLender.com is a comprehensive online resource for underwater homeowners who are looking for non-biased information about their options to stay and refinance or consider a short sale.

Read more: http://www.timesunion.com/business/press-releases/article/HARP-Mortgage-Lender-Helps-Prevent-A-Massive-Wave-3612766.php#ixzz1xhHPEPrd

foreclosure rescue scams overview

http://www.news-sentinel.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120606/BUSINESS/120609756/0/SEARCH

The Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act generally exempts you from being taxed on up to $2 million of mortgage forgiveness on your primary residence through the end of 2012 as long as its due to a decline in the value of your or your financial situation. That means you’ll want to avoid turning it into a vacation or rental property first or waiting until after the act is scheduled to expire at the end of the year.