By Alfred Villoch, III, with Savage, Combs & Villoch, PLLC Johnny Smith accidentally runs a red traffic light and slams his pick-up truck into a motorcyclist, Drew Lenders. Sadly, Drew was not wearing a helmet and suffered significant head trauma and memory loss. Drew’s hospital bill alone is $50,000 He…
By Alfred Villoch, III, Esquire, with Savage, Combs & Villoch, PLLC Consumer bankruptcy filings are down 12 percent so far in 2014, according to Epiq Systems, Inc., and as reported by the American Bankruptcy Institute. See “Bankruptcy Filings Through First Three Quarters of 2014 Fall 12 Percent from 2013, Commercial…
By Alfred Villoch, III, with Savage, Combs and Villoch, PLLC This meeting is named after section 341 of the bankruptcy code. It’s usually held about one or two months after you file for bankruptcy. You are required to attend this meeting in order to successfully complete bankruptcy and discharge your…
by Alfred Villoch, III, with Savage, Combs & Villoch, PLLC In Florida, settlement of legal disputes is strongly encouraged. To encourage settlement, the Florida legislature enacted Section 768.79 of the Florida Statutes. Section 768.79 creates a substantive right to collect reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs as “penalties” when a party declines to accept a reasonable…
By Alfred Villoch, III, Esquire, at Savage, Combs & Villoch, PLLC In a recent blog post, the Bankruptcy Blawg addressed how difficult (almost impossible) it is to get rid of student loan debt in bankruptcy. See http://www.thebankruptcyblawg.com/?p=26. Yesterday, the Tampa Bay Times published an article entitled “Co-signing a student loan carries…
By Alfred Villoch, III, Esquire, at Savage, Combs & Villoch, PLLC Student loans are very difficult to get rid of in bankruptcy. Whether you file bankruptcy under chapter 7 or chapter 13, the test remains the same: you have to prove “undue hardship” in order to discharge or get rid of…