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Bankruptcy Law, Credit, Timothy Kingcade Posts

Big Decision on Detroit Bankruptcy Coming December 3, 2013

Posted on November 25, 2013by Admin

A judge will announce December 3, 2013 whether Detroit is eligible to fix its finances through bankruptcy. This is considered the most important decision since the largest public filing in U.S. history last summer. Judge Steven Rhodes issued a brief order on Monday saying that he will rule from the bench on December 3rd and issue a written opinion later. Rhodes presided over a nine-day trial that ended November 8.

Unions and pensions funds claim Detroit is not eligible to file for bankruptcy because it failed to hold good-faith negotiations prior to the filing in July. The city claims that it did enough. A bankruptcy decision will mean the case would turn to how Detroit can fix $18 billion in debt.

The city’s emergency manager, Kevyn Orr, has warned of chaos if Detroit is not permitted to file bankruptcy. Creditors who were owed money at the time of filing could sue for payment and the long-term debt will continue to accumulate.

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If you are in a financial crisis and are considering filing bankruptcy, contact an experienced Miami bankruptcy attorney who can advise you of all of your options. As an experienced CPA as well as a proven bankruptcy lawyer, Timothy Kingcade knows how to help clients take full advantage of the bankruptcy laws to protect their assets and get successful results. Since 1996 Kingcade & Garcia, P.A. has been helping people from all walks of life build a better tomorrow. Our attorneys’ help thousands of people every year take advantage of their rights under bankruptcy protection to restart, rebuild and recover. The day you hire our firm, we will contact your creditors to stop the harassment. You can also find useful consumer information on the Kingcade & Garcia website at www.miamibankruptcy.com.

Bankruptcy Law, Timothy Kingcade Posts

Aaron Carter Files Chapter 7 Bankruptcy

Posted on November 22, 2013by Admin

Aaron Carter, younger brother of Backstreet Boys singer Nick Carter has recently filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. According to TMZ, he filed for Chapter 7 protection last month with assets of a little more than $8,000 and debts of more than $2.2 million, 1.37 million of that is money owed to the IRS for income taxes ranging from 2003 to 2006. Court documents also show he owes more than $31,000 to American Express and $9,000 for a tour bus.

He lists his assets as laptops, furs, jewelry and a dog (which is reportedly worth nothing). A representative for Carter states that the bankruptcy is a “positive thing.” “It’s him doing what he needs to do to move forward.”

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Foreclosures, Timothy Kingcade Posts

Florida Home Values go Up as Foreclosures Loom

Posted on November 21, 2013by Admin

October’s single-family home sales for Brevard showed an increase of 9.3 percent over the year, to 727 sales, according to Florida Realtors. Median sales price- the point at which half the homes sell for less, half for more – in Brevard rose 3.4 percent in October, to $120,000, from a year ago. According to one realtor in Brevard County, most of her sellers are getting the full asking price or slightly more.

The positive sales numbers for October are the likely result of banks and lenders stepping up foreclosure activities against Brevard and Florida property owners who have been delinquent in payments. According to RealtyTrac, Florida continues to lead the nation in the number of homes threatened with foreclosure. In Brevard, RealtyTrac reports there were 10,184 properties in the foreclosure process, a nearly 22 percent increase from a year ago. That’s the highest the figure has been since at least 2009.

Housing experts say a key reason for the increase in local foreclosure activity is because banks and lenders are trying to free up properties to make them available to buyers, both investors and those who plan to live in a home.

Daren Blomquist, the Vice President of RealtyTrac, says “the banks realize they can get more money out of a property through a foreclosure than a short-sell and often prefer foreclosures because they can get paid in cash as opposed to depending on a traditional home loan.”

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Choosing the right attorney can make the difference between whether or not you can keep your home. A well-qualified Miami foreclosure defense attorney will not only help you keep your home, but they will be able to negotiate a loan that has payments you can afford. Miami foreclosure defense attorney Timothy Kingcade has helped many facing foreclosure alleviate their stress by letting them stay in their homes for at least another year, allowing them to re-organize their lives. If you have any questions on the topic of foreclosure please feel free to contact me at (305) 285-9100. You can also find useful consumer information on the Kingcade & Garcia website at www.miamibankruptcy.com.

Florida Bar, Foreclosures, Timothy Kingcade Posts

Big Time Florida Foreclosure Lawyer Accepts Disbarment

Posted on November 20, 2013by Admin

Florida lawyer, David J. Stern, whose law firm handled tens of thousands of foreclosure cases during the height of the financial crisis is ending his fight to hold on to his law license. The disbarment will mark the most significant punishment for the attorney’s role in falsifying documents through fake signatures and backdating records and not giving homeowners proper notice that they faced foreclosure.

In late January, the Florida Bar found probable cause for 17 counts against Stern. The alleged violations included misconduct and failure to supervise non-lawyers properly. Stern’s attorney initially said that his client had done nothing unethical and questioned if the Bar could prove his client did anything to merit punishment.

But recently, Stern’s lawyer, Jeffrey Tew, filed a one page document with the Florida Supreme Court stating that his client has decided to end his fight against recommendations that he be disbarred. A referee has also recommended that Stern pay nearly $50,000 in costs to the Florida Bar, claiming that Stern’s actions had “created chaos” in the courts.

The October report included testimony from six judges complaining about Stern and his firm’s lawyers. Judge Nancy Perez contended that Stern’s failure to exercise care was not “isolated, but rather a representation of the culture of the firm, as to the low level of competence and ethics.”

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Foreclosures, Timothy Kingcade Posts

JP Morgan Chase & Co., Govt. Near $13 Billion Settlement

Posted on November 19, 2013by Admin

The Justice Department and JPMorgan Chase & Co. have finally reached an agreement involving the $13 billion settlement of a civil inquiry into the company’s sales of low-quality mortgage backed securities that collapsed in value during the financial crisis. The settlement is the largest ever reached between the government and a corporation- surpassing the $4 billion BP oil spill settlement.

The agreement will require JPMorgan Chase & Co. to pay $6 billion to compensate investors, pay $4 billion to help struggling homeowners and pay the remainder as a fine.

So how is this going to help struggling homeowners hit hard by the housing crisis? Well, according to the first person close to the talks, some $1.5 billion will be a write-down forgiving homeowner loans, $300 million will enable homeowners to pay less now on their mortgages and the remainder of the $4 billion will go toward reducing existing loans, originating new loans and helping revive properties in some of the hardest hit areas of the housing crisis, such as Detroit.

Still to come is a decision as to whether the Justice Department will file criminal charges against JPMorgan Chase & Co. An investigation in currently under way.

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Bankruptcy Law, Credit, Foreclosures

U.S. Consumer Debt on the Rise- Highest Since Early 2008

Posted on November 18, 2013by Admin

According to data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, U.S. household debt increased in the latest quarter by the most it had in more than five years and student loans in delinquency hit a record high. Total consumer debt rose to $11.28 trillion, which marked the biggest quarterly jump since 2008. The increase in the third quarter suggests that the cycle may be nearing its end.
There is has been an increase of household debt essentially across all spectrums. Americans have recently put more on credit cards, borrowed more money to buy houses and cars and took out more student loan debt.

The continued rise in student debt continues to be a cause for concern. Outstanding balances increased $33 billion to $1.03 trillion in the third quarter. A record 11.8 percent of loans were behind by 90 days or more, the New York Fed said, up from 10.9 percent in the second quarter. Student loan debt can unfortunately not be discharged under current bankruptcy law. Economists worry that in the coming years delinquencies could lock people out of economic participation.

Foreclosures which continue to decline, hit their lowest levels since the end of 2005.

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Foreclosures, Timothy Kingcade Posts

Foreclosure Activity Increases Nationwide in October

Posted on November 14, 2013by Admin

According to RealtyTrac Inc., foreclosure filings in October- default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions- were reported on 133,919 U.S. properties, a 2 percent increase from the previous month but a 28 percent decrease from a year ago. The report states that one in every 978 U.S. homes had a foreclosure filing during the month of October.

Among the nation’s 20 largest metro areas, the highest foreclosure rates were in Miami, Tampa, Chicago, Baltimore and Riverside-San Bernardino. The biggest annual increases in foreclosure activity were in Baltimore (up 296 percent for 13th consecutive month with an annual increase), Washington, D.C. (up 48 percent for fifth consecutive month with an annual increase), New York (up 20 percent for 16th consecutive month with an annual increase), Philadelphia (up 15 percent for eighth consecutive month with an annual increase), and Miami (up 7 percent for first annual increase after two consecutive months of annual decreases).

According to Daren Blomquist, vice president of RealtyTrac, this is attributed to the “backlog of delayed judicial foreclosures making their way through the pipeline, with many of these properties scheduled for public auction.”

States with the biggest annual increases in scheduled judicial foreclosure auctions included Maryland (up 177 percent), Delaware (up 142 percent), New York (up 98 percent), New Jersey (up 97 percent), Pennsylvania (up 58 percent), Connecticut (up 35 percent), and Florida (up 32 percent).

Miami posted the highest foreclosure rate: one in every 264 housing units with a foreclosure filing. Miami foreclosure activity in October increased 7 percent from a year ago boosted by a 51 percent jump in scheduled foreclosure auctions.

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Bankruptcy Law, Credit, Timothy Kingcade Posts

Company’s Fourth Bankruptcy Filling Sets Unprecedented Record

Posted on November 13, 2013by Admin

The charter air transport company, Global Aviation Holdings, Inc. filed a record fourth Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The company is the largest provider of commercial charter airline services to the U.S. military and has attributed the bankruptcy filing to the recent government cutbacks.

Global Aviation had previously filed for bankruptcy in 2004 and 2006 in the Southern District of Indiana and last year in the Eastern District of New York.

Repeat filings by companies like Global Aviation are not uncommon. In fact, about one-third of larger companies that file for Chapter 11 find themselves back in bankruptcy court within four years. But it’s pretty rare to end up there a third time, a fourth time is unprecedented.

Global Aviation’s previous bankruptcies were particularly hard on general unsecured creditors, such as suppliers. The best they did was in the company’s 2006 bankruptcy, when court records indicate they were expected to get as much as 2.4 percent of what they were owed.

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Bankruptcy Law, Credit, Timothy Kingcade Posts

Private Student Loans Just as Dangerous as Using a Credit Card to Pay for College

Posted on November 12, 2013by Admin

A recent analysis done by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Student Loan Ombudsman report concluded that private student loans are a “risky and high-cost” method to pay for a college education, “no better than paying for college on a credit card.” These private student loans total approximately $165 billion and account for 15 percent of the nation’s total outstanding student loan debt.

Private student loan repayment was the subject of nearly 65 percent of more than 4,300 complaints received by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau from October 1, 2012 through September 30, 2013. Repayment concerns included fees, billing, deferment, forbearance, fraud and credit reporting.

What’s most concerning is how borrowers incurred these private student loan debts. “In 2008, a majority of private student loan borrowers took out less in federal student loans than they could have. Of these borrowers, a full quarter took out no federal student aid whatsoever … In large part, private student borrowers fell prey to a range of unsavory marketing tactics… Some lenders deliberately misled borrowers into believing that their private student loans were superior to federal loans.”

The CFPB’s Student Loan Ombudsman is a statutory office created within the Bureau to assist consumers in resolving their issues with private student loan lenders. Through this effort, the CFPB has assisted hundreds of borrowers obtain relief from their lenders. The median monetary recovery is $700; the maximum amount of relief granted thus far is $75,000.

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If you are having trouble making your student loan payments or you have recently defaulted on your federal or private student loans, contact an experienced Miami bankruptcy attorney. Although student loans are often not dischargeable in bankruptcy court, an attorney can help you eliminate other debts and obligations so you can take control of your finances and better handle your student loan debt. Since 1996 Kingcade & Garcia, P.A. has been helping people from all walks of life build a better tomorrow. Our attorneys’ help thousands of people every year take advantage of their rights under bankruptcy protection to restart, rebuild and recover. You can also find useful consumer information on the Kingcade & Garcia website at www.miamibankruptcy.com.

Foreclosures, Timothy Kingcade Posts

Bank of America Ordered to Pay $863.6 Million Following Fraud Verdict

Posted on November 11, 2013by Admin

The U.S. government has declared that Bank of America pay $863.6 million in damages after a federal jury found it liable for fraud over defective mortgages sold by its Countrywide unit. In addition, the government also asked for penalties against Rebecca Mairone, a former midlevel executive at the bank’s Countrywide unit who the jury also found liable.

The government said these penalties were necessary and it intends “to send a clear and unambiguous message that mortgage fraud for profit will not be tolerated.” Bank of America and Mairone were each found liable for defrauding government-controlled mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac through the sale of fraudulent loans purchased from Countrywide in 2007 and 2008. Mairone has since joined JPMorgan Chase & Co and denied any wrongdoing.

The government said that Countrywide’s program emphasized short term gains and rewarded employees for quantity over quality, eliminating checkpoints designed to ensure the loans were sound. The verdict has been considered a major victory for the U.S. Department of Justice, which has been criticized for failing to hold banks and individuals accountable for their roles in the events leading up to the 2008 financial crisis.

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