The Florida Bar News reported on March 1st that HB 87 has passed the House Civil Justice Subcommittee on February 7. This bill has four important segments.

1.) It Shortens the statue of limitations for seeking a deficiency judgement from five year to one year from the date of the foreclosure sale.

2.) The defendants must show a valid reason for contesting the foreclosure or a Judge can expedite the foreclosure.

3.) Lenders must have their documents in order and complete when they file a foreclosure.

4.) Once a home is sold in foreclosure to a third party, future claims will be limited to monetary damages, should the foreclosure be found to be faulty.

The outcome of HB 87 is worth watching closely. Foreclosures are of prime importance not only to Circuit Civil & Real Estate Attorneys, but also Family Attorneys. Many divorces & family issues are delayed pending the outcome of the disposition of the marital home.

Tampa /FT Meyers New Ch 13 Plan March 15, 2013

The Model Plan now requires an affirmative representation that the plan conforms to the Model Plan, and strikes non-conforming provisions not set forth in Additional Provisions, paragraph 5. In addition, the Model Plan now permits the debtor to elect when property of the estate is vested in the debtor, either at confirmation or upon the debtor's discharge or dismissal of the case. See 11 U.S.C. § 1327(b). Debtors and their counsel should give careful consideration to this election, as it may result in significant legal consequences. 

North District Reaffirmation Agreements

The Clerk’s Office will begin entering a paperless “Notice of Compliance    re Reaffirmation Agreement” on agreements that are timely filed, contain    the signatures of the creditor representative, debtor(s), and attorney    for the debtor(s), do not indicate undue hardship, and otherwise comply    with 11 U.S.C. § 524(c).

If Part C of the Reaffirmation Agreement indicates a presumption of    undue hardship and the debtor does not provide an explanation of how    they plan to make the payments, a Conditional Order Denying    Reaffirmation Agreement will be entered giving the debtor(s) 21 days to    file appropriate documents with the Court or the Order Denying will    stand without further notice or order.

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