Articles Posted in savage

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 also missed 3 months from…

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 Filings Fall 22 Percent.” The…

By Alfred Villoch, III, at Savage, Combs & Villoch, PLLC Arigato Japanese Steakhouse, LLC, a restaurant with three locations in the Tampa Bay area, including a popular location in the Carrollwood area, has permanently closed its doors, according to Eric Snider with the Tampa Bay Business Journal. The restaurant was founded in 1971 and has…

By Alfred Villoch, III, at Savage, Combs & Villoch, PLLC Today, the Wall Street Journal ran an article entitled “A Maze of Paper. SEC Judgment against Raider Paul Bilzerian: $62 Million. Collected: $3.7 Million.” In the article, Michael Rothfeld and Brad Reagan write how Paul Bilzerian was a corporate raider in the 1980s who victimized…

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 risks for parents.” The…

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 your student loans. See…

By Alfred Villoch, III, Esquire, at Savage, Combs & Villoch, PLLC If you’re a few months behind on your mortgage payments, the bank that loaned you the money to purchase your home (or alternatively, the company that services the loan) will likely file a lawsuit with the intent to sell your house and use that…

By Alfred Villoch, III, Esquire at Savage, Combs & Villoch, PLLC Chapter 7 of the bankruptcy code allows you to discharge certain debts immediately upon order of the bankruptcy court. But to qualify for chapter 7, you must satisfy what is called the “means test.” If you cannot satisfy this means test, you must instead…